Lost in A City
by Alena Spirit of Hyperness
Summary: Amber and her friends are stuck in a world without proper training, after Amber opened a portal by accident, these three friends are stuck there until they learn to master the technique or ten human years have passed for them.
1. Chapter 1

I wouldn't exactly say this was my first story, but nor is it my last. Also, this is my first time showing one of my pieces of work on writing story's on the internet, so of course I'd appreciate comments. Well, here's the story:

Chapter 1

Shivering, and fearful, sat a lone figure inside a huge building with a large cavern. She had no idea where she was. She knew how she had gotten there though. Her people possessed a special ability to travel through dimensions. They all would learn how to do it when they were a hundred years old though. The lone figure was only fifteen though. She had much training though, ever since she joined the warriors village, mostly in getting stronger first, not learning how to fight better or yet to learn elegance. Unfortunately though, even getting stronger didn't feel like it was enough to help her out. Considering that she didn't know where she was or how much her strength alone would help her out.

"Amber, get it together, or else you won't figure out how to get back." She whispered to herself over and over. Because she had gotten there by accident and wasn't trained yet to actually traverse dimensions or used to actual fighting, she was feeling to much unease to actually rest and get a grip on herself. After all, if she didn't figure out how to go back soon, then it'd be a whole year before her people would come to fetch her. In human years, unfortunately it'd take ten years.

Amber looked at a puddle of strange smelling water and started at her reflection. A dog ear and a cat ear was planted backwards in fear, her brown eye and orange eyes usual cat slits were wide enough to look circular, and her brown and black stripes against her orange fur were puffed out, giving her a comical appearance, despite almost fully grown. The diamond on her choker, which represented her emotions, was shaped to look like a tear drop, which showed her true emotions. Her long hair made a sort of loose curtain around her head though, since her entire body had that of a humans, and was coated a with slightly puffed up fur coat. The brown end of her tail twitched nervously as Amber's face was disconcerted by drops of the water like substance dropping into the pool.

The only sound in the cavern was her breathing and the dropping of water. That's when, Amber heard a door opening. Unsure of whether to investigate or not, curiosity won out and Amber could be seen walking to the edge of the shadows to see the who or it. Seeing a green colored person walking out, Amber blinked in surprise at the strange robotic-like looks on it and the flesh covering some of the machines parts. Curious as to whether it is alive or not, due to both a flesh and machine smell coming from it, Amber stayed in the shadows quietly watching until several more mechanical looking beings came in.

Also, I'm still new to writing stories, so any sort of criticisms you have, don't be scared to show it. I'm always looking forward to getting better. ^^ And who get's better unless they have criticism? Also, I plan to update around 1 to 2 weeks on average. At least if I have the next chapters written.


	2. Two Troublesome Friends

Well, where has the time gone? Apparently it's long past time to put up a new chapter for me. ^^' Stupid procrastination... Also, there's two new characters that will appear in this story. Alena *That's me!* and Unity.

Chapter 2

As they started conversing among themselves, Amber decided they were living beings and greatly calmed down. Once her mind was thinking clearly, she started to access her situation. She was alone in this world half a year before she got her own "Pet". She had weapons but was still new to them. She also had to wait ten years for this worlds time. _It's so troublesome to have ten year's equal one year for my people's time. This is only because of how long we live. So technically, I'm 1 and ½ year's old instead of fifteen. Really funny._ Amber then realized that she knew nothing of this world and because of that, she didn't know who the bag guys and good guys were. Nor did she know of this worlds state, or what it was like. Or if they used different powers. If they used different powers, then there'd be a problem. Since if whoever used powers had exceptional experience in it, then they could down her with ease. Especially at her level of fighting.

Deciding to just get it over with, Amber said aloud, "Does anyone know where I am?" And stepped out of the shadows. Waiting a few moments to let the initial shock pass by, Amber said, "You guys can call me Amber. I'm pretty sure you guys guessed that I'm not from here. So… who are you guys?"

Pausing to see who would reply first, Amber looked around at the five shocked faces, wondering who they were and if they would answer her questions. The blue one stepped up, "Actually, this is the first time we all have met. I'm Nokama though. I'm wondering about why do you look like a Rahi?"

Amber, puzzled over what Rahi meant, decided it meant animal, since half her origin's were of animal, and replied, "Actually, my species is supposed to look like a Rahi. Although around 25 to 30 years old for your kind of people, we gain a more human appearance. Then we can switch between what we look like now and what we look like as humans. Quite convenient in human dimensions." Then claimed a dog-like sitting position.

"Anyway, were am I? No one's answered this question yet." Then Nokama said, "You really aren't from around here. Anyone could tell you this is the Great Spirits Temple. It's located in Ga-Metru, which is part of the City of Metru-Nui."

Smiling, Amber was happy that she knew where she was now. And the animal part of her mind calmed down completely. That's when a portal suddenly opened, and out came a golden figure with black spots on it, and a dull gold figure with reddish wheat splotches on it.

Amber's smile got even wider and she pounced on the two figures excitedly. "Alena! Unity!" She screamed with excitement in every part of those words. Unity looked up at Amber, her tongue panting excitedly. "Amber! Me and Alena saw you go through the portal that you accidentally opened up. I immediately started to mimic what you did to get through and what I saw many of the adults doing to go through portals. It was quite easy actually. Anyway, where did we end up?"

Amber then dragged Alena and Unity into a separate room while telling the five strangers that she'd be gone temporarily to explain things to her friends.

Once the door to the separate room was shut, Amber looked at her friends and started from the beginning. Recounting what had happened before she met Nokama and the others, it took only around ten minutes or so. "And so," Amber concluded, "Apparently we're in a dimension where there's half human half robot people. Anyway, we don't know much about this place, so we'll have to explore with extreme caution. It'll be hard to do, but I'm sure we can do it. We'll have to have them explain what is important anyway…"

Alena's ear's started to twitch, and Alena said, "Something's happening in the other room we left. I also smell a great power coming from it. Faintly enough I can't see the line it makes. Unity, can you smell it better then I can?"

Unity sniffed the air momentarily and said, "There's a strong scent of unknown power coming from the room. Oddly enough, it smells like water, air, earth, stone, ice, and fire. Let's be cautious when entering."

Amber, certain that if it was a threat, it would either be waiting for them or it would have attacked by now. Besides, Alena's hearing picked up a strange sound. Not screaming. So there was more then likely no real danger at all. "Girls, it's definitely a strong power, but I don't believe it's a threat. If it were, then wouldn't you have picked up screaming Alena?"

Alena frowned for a moment and thought, "There wasn't any screaming, so there's a decent possibility that there's no threat."

Amber then laughed. "If we were around two hundred years old," she said between giggles, "Then we'd more then likely be able to throw all caution to the wind." With that, Amber started opening the door. Once it was opened, Amber gaped at what she and her friends saw. In place of five different colored small strangers, there were five different colored LARGE strangers. With the addition of a red colored large stranger.

Putting the puzzle together, Amber looked at the blue figure, and said, "Nokama?"

* * *

Apparently surprised to hear her name so soon after transforming, Nokama looked up to see Amber looking in shock. Strangely enough, she didn't see fear. Then she saw Amber smile and said, "If you didn't recognize that name, would you have looked so surprised like you do now? My first question is: How? One minute you and the others are shorties, the next, your taller then us! My other question is: Who is the red stranger? And here's a simple statement. You six have a ton of explaining to do to settle the confusion we're experiencing!"

* * *

Amber smiled, glad to have her first suspicion settled. The next questions to be answered was how they turned to this way, who the red stranger is, and what in the world is this dimension about?

Putting her hands behind her back, clasping her hands together, and taking a step forward, Amber did a short run up to the red stranger. The stranger's gasped as they saw two of her, and then the one from where she originally started faded. The red stranger stared at the red stranger for a few seconds then said, "What do you call yourselves now and what did you call yourselves before?"

The red stranger replied to her question with caution in his voice saying, "We were just transformed into Toa. Before then we were Matoran. But where did you three come from?"

Amber smiled. "I'm Amber. My heritage is a Tiger and a Chinook dog in other words, half dog, half cat. My specialty is fighting. The one on the right is a Lion and a Leopard combined, who's called Alena, who's a full breed cat. Her specialty is medicine. The one on the left is a Golden Retriever, and a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and a full breed dog. Her name is Unity and her specialty is in machines and building. This world should fascinate her in that area. Now then, tell me your names, and if you have any specialties please tell because you know ours and our names now, so return the favor."

The Toa, apparently surprised at how she spoke openly and with authority. Slowly, each of them stepped up and introduced their names and elements. When Nokama mentioned her element was water, Alena, despite all cat, perked up happily. Alena knew the many values of water, and so appreciated it. _Who knows? There might be some new plants here that are used as herbs that I can use. It might even benefit our people._

Unity, a fan of dirt and stone, seemed excited that since Whenua and Onewa had stone and earth as their specialty. "Is it fun to play in the dirt?" She asked happily. "I enjoy it. Especially digging deep holes and then sneaking up on Alena when I'm so dirt filled she can't catch my scent. Never works on Amber though. Her nose is better then Alena's."

Amber, hearing the word fire, was intrigued. Her gloves she wore could heat up to her will to any temperature she wanted. She felt that since she could use a certain amount of heat to bend to her will, she might learn a thing or two with it. Smiling she turned on her heel and jumped back to her own little group.

That's when her ear's registered a struggling noise coming from where she had stood. Turning around, she saw that Vakama was acting insane. That or it was a new dance he came up with. "I feel I saw something similar before though. Not the exact way he's moving, but the way it's like he's dodging something not there." Thinking hard, she realized once that the warriors village had only one person able to see visions. She witnessed it once but, Vakama's movements had the same feel as the other persons did, despite not the same movement.

"Outside of insanity and a new dance move, the one thing I'm getting is he's having a vision." She whispered aloud to her friends. Alena and Unity both nodded, since coincidentally they were there with Amber when they witnessed it. Apparently they got the same feel she did too.

Once the Toa of Fire was done, and was talking about how a Morbuzakh and six "Great Disks" were needed to stop it, Alena, with her medical box on her tail, walked up to Vakama and asked, "You don't feel sick right?"

Surprised at the question, Vakama stated, "No! I've had visions for all my life. How could I feel sick?"

Alena smiled and Amber started to speak. "Where we come from, we aren't supposed to have powers like Toa. Because of this, there's very few with powers. The most common one is seeing visions, and there's only around ten to twenty who has that specific power. And then there's thousands upon millions of us who have no powers. For them, when they have visions conflicts with the natural order of how we're supposed to be. So, the end result of having visions is puking and staying in bed for a few days. To be honest, the only actual power we're supposed to have is ripping holes in the air to form a dimensional gate for us to pass through. Which is how I got here and five of you witnessed these two come here." Amber said pointing to Alena and Unity.

"But it's because you disappeared during our playing. You made an accidental portal and it swallowed you. I mimicked the movement and followed your scent here. Remember, no kittie cat or half kittie cats nose is better then mine." Unity said, winking at Amber.

Alena, concerned over the matter of Morbuzakh, said, "What's this Morbuzakh? It doesn't sound pleasant!"

At this, the Toa looked at each other uncomfortably. Amber, noticing the discomfort, said, "I have a feeling if we stay here, we'll soon find out. Anyway, I enjoy surprises, and this sounds like interesting experience for a warrior. Unity could learn a few ways to construct things, and Alena might enjoy learning how to heal those injured naturally or with our saliva. We'll stay and help. Also, any clues to finding these disks?"

Nokama, who looked like she was remembering something for an instant, snapped out of it, "I saw a tablet when I came in. It had hints on it for the Great Disks." Amber smiled, "Best hint yet. Now if we could just crack the code."

That's when Vakama listed six names. From the other Toa's reactions, they were apparently familiar with the names. "People you know?" Alena guessed. "I recognize only one of them, but the other's are unfamiliar to me." Nokama said. The rest of them nodded in agreement.

Amber, one who liked action and hated stillness, said, "Let's split up and find them. The three of us can go with whoever we want to go with. Or just go on our own to explore."

After a short discussion on this, it was an agreed upon idea. Before everyone left though, Vakama said to beware a Dark Hunter with four legs. Upon saying this, everyone walked away, with Amber following Vakama, and Unity following Onewa. Alena decided to go with Nuju. Considering that he seemed to be a Scholar, and she might learn new things.

Well, that's chapter two. Hopefully your all satisfied with how I went into detail for a little bit more of Ambers and her friends species. Also, as this story progresses, I should get deeper into the species as I go on. However, any late chapters are not my fault! My Bionicle book I'm using is currently in two pieces, with one page half ripped, and no spine. All this is literally. And my procrastination is kicking in all the more due to this. D= It's doing that to me cause I don't want the book ruined more then it is. Although that's currently impossible.... Unless I do something even more stupid to it. Also, even though Amber and her friends species are listed, I'll just mention them one more time to get on your case/incase you either forgot or didn't see that part. :P

Alena: Lion/Leopard hybrid; full cat

Amber: Tiger/Chinook; Half cat, half dog

Unity: Golden Retriever/Rhodesian Ridgeback; full dog-Just for the record, I got a rhodesian ridgeback 'without the ridge'. You'll know what I mean if you see pictures or own one.


	3. Unity and Onewa

...Wow. This third chapters been posted a day before two weeks. Anyway, here's for where Unity tortures Onewa. Why torture, you ask. Well, I'll explain it all at the bottom. ^^

Chapter 3

Unity was very excited when they had entered the Po-Metru district. So happy apparently, that she was on all fours and running all over the place screaming, "The dirt! The tools! The stone! A desert with everything someone from my village would want if they loved carving! Is that your main hobby? If it is, then can you show me some of your work? My main hobby is rebuilding houses to look exactly as they were before and also to build buildings. In fact, the gloves Amber wears were designed by me! My other talent is to make machinery and weapons that are environment safe."

Annoyed at her constant talking, Onewa continued walking. Unity, who saw a little mound of dirt, pounced on it like a wolf, and started digging fast with bare hands. Just the way a dog would do it. With her strength and constant, nonstop digging, the hole was pretty deep soon and she had almost caught whatever it was she had scented. Pretty soon, it was in sight. Grinning mischievously, she picked it up in her mouth.

Running to catch up to Onewa, she walked along with it hanging from her mouth. It was apparently harmless. This is mostly because all it could do was struggle and make screeching sounds in desperation. Unity, because of her animal heritage, put her hand on it and said in it's language, "It's okay. I don't hurt little guys like you. Although the big one might. If he does though, he'll just have a hole in his arm from where I bit him."

Disturbed at the strange and very irritating noises that Unity was making, along with her trying to say something in their language, and the strange noise following her, Onewa turned around to find her holding and chatting happily with an Archives Mole. Not knowing that what she was doing was a strange sight, Unity felt eyes on her and looked up to see Onewa watching. "What's so wrong about this? It's quite common where I live." "Why are you talking to an Archives mole?" Onewa asked, wondering how much stranger Amber and her friends could get.

"So that's what you call these little cuties? That isn't what they call themselves. This little guy told me his species name. And he was right. It's impossible to say it in our language! Very intriguing!"

Onewa, with a hint of curiosity as well as annoyance, asked, "And how do you understand them? You'd need a Rau to understand them."

"First of all, what's a Rau? Second of all, I'm half Rahi. So of course I can understand this little guy. There's no language that my species can't understand. Unless someone personally made it up and it wasn't part of the many common tongues. That's because we're half Rahi. And because we travel via dimensions as you saw. So of course we have to know the languages. We're born naturally that way though. No tutoring thank goodness. Besides, it gives us more time to learn how to work more efficiently in our villages."

With that, Onewa continued walking a ways, ignoring her all the time.

"We're here."

Startled, Unity looked at a miniature house. "This where Ahkmou lives?" By then the Archives Mole was sitting on her shoulder, looking at the building curiously. The two were good friends by now. And the chatter they made was getting on Onewa's nerves. Once inside the house, Unity was surprised at the wreckage. It looked like it was either robbed or this Ahkmou was kidnapped. Sniffing the air, Unity sensed that the only recent scent in the house was more then likely this Ahkmou's. If it was a kidnapping, then why would the house be wrecked with no scent of the kidnapper? And if it was robbery, why would the house be in ruins with nothing appearing to be missing? And again, there were no recent scents of someone else inside the house. Which leaves the only option of… Framed kidnapping? Not mentioning it aloud, for fear of being wrong, Unity sniffed the air to get an idea of where he was.

Onewa suddenly rushed out in concern for his friend. _Well of course. This guys pretty good. If it is framed kidnapping, then really there's nothing to worry about. Of course, I'd tell Onewa, but me and the other's are a little unclear as to if we can despite being minors. Sure it isn't major, but suppose they consider it that or as minors we have absolutely no right to help them here outside. I'll keep quite just incase. Maybe I'm wrong after all…? _

Picking up her little friend, she placed him on the ground and said in his language, "I'm afraid we part here little buddy. Hopefully we can meet again too! But what I'm about to do could hurt anyone smaller then a full sized human or bigger can't take it. Otherwise I'd bring you along gladly." Hugging him with only two fingers as they said bye, Unity got up and went still. Minutes later, it disappeared like a cloud. Startled by what it saw, the Archives Mole looked out the door to see if he could spot her. Unable to, he walked back to his home to do some repairing.

_______

Unity, who had left her little friend, had quickly went to the home she dug up and quickly reformed the dirt back to where it used to be to save him some time. It was harder then she thought, but she managed to get it back to the way it used to be if not a little harder then it was before.

Since she had Onewa's and what she believed to be Ahkmou's scents, she didn't worry about having to find one or the other. In fact, she had found Onewa's direction almost immediately and started running there. Leaving another image of herself that lasted only a few seconds this time, she ran. As she ran to where he was, she was surprised he was almost at what she thinks is Ahkmou's workplace.

Stopping right in front of Onewa, she gave him a mischievous grin. "Beat you even though you got a good head started!" She said happily. Shocked at her appearing from nowhere, Onewa paused for a minute or so to gasp, "Where… did you… come from?"

"Simple. I came from the hut! After a fast detour of repairing the little guys' home that is."

"That fast?"

"Yep. For anyone, probably would have taken over an hour. Me, only a few minutes since I'm in the village of carpentry and machines! Now let's go."

Unity walked towards where she sensed what she was slowly becoming even surer of was Ahkmou's scent. With a surprised Toa Metru staying where he had paused. Seconds later, he recovered from shock, but only after Unity got a good look at his face. Which made her burst out laughing.

________

While they were at Ahkmou's desk, Unity found a stray brick of what had a strange scent on it. Not dirt, something else. Her claws, which, since she wasn't a cat, was dull compared to Alena's and Amber's claws. But for carving, they were just the right sharpness. Currently, she was in the minor training of carving and putting together dirt as fast as possible. Looking at Onewa, who was examining Ahkmou's workplace, she quickly made a carving with her claws.

Scraping away the dirt, she had a perfect sphere in her hands. Despite that, she still didn't stop. The next part was what to put on it. Fortunately, she already knew what to carve. Quickly scraping the dirt away, she was forming lines and gashes in it. Once she was done, she made the bottom flat so that instead of rolling, it would stand up straight.

"Onewa?"

"Yes?" Was an irritated reply.

"Want to see the face you made earlier?"

"How can you make that face? You don't wear my mask."

"Just look at this."

Looking up, he was startled to see a perfect replica of his face… In in what was apparently the face he had earlier! Irritated, he grabbed it and tried to throw it onto the floor but Unity stopped him with faster reflexes.

After a few more minutes of fighting and struggling over what the girl had made, Unity suggested asking co-workers. Absolutely certain that she'd almost definitely hide to avoid attention, Onewa went to do that. Ask he was in the middle of asking the first one, the Matoran jumped. "Go on, go on. Ignore my presence. Both of you." Said a voice that he didn't want to hear right now. Glaring at Unity, her cheaply worded excuse showed with a look of insult, "I'm no cat. I don't have Amber's or Unity's hearing. I can't hear conversations from a hundred feet away."

"Who can?"

"Well obviously Alena and Amber! Their cats after all."

"Just ignore her like she says. She's just irritating at times like these."

"I heard that!" And a thump was followed. Unity ignored Onewa as he rubbed his now sore back while she was asking the Matoran, "So he was jumpy after a visit from someone with four legs and a huge guy?" After a nod, Unity looked at Onewa and said, "Where can we usually find him outside of his workplace and home? I saw huge statues and carvings several times. Would he be located somewhere around there?"

A quick whack, and Unity groaned in head pain, and was officially rubbing a now sore head. "That's for earlier. And those are known as Sculpture Fields."

"So their fields used to hold sculptures?"

"Yes."

"So you guys enjoy displaying the strangest of your works in the open?"

One more whack and groan. Unity looked at Onewa with a glare and said, "I'm telling Amber!"

Onewa snorted in disbelief. What could a scrawny thing like that girl do to him? A full grown Toa! Upon hearing Onewa's snort, she knew he didn't believe her. Who wouldn't though? Of course, Unity said this because as it turns out, despite being female, Amber was the most rapidly improving of all the training group for the warriors section. And she was the only female. Her mentor was proud of her, feeling that within half a year, she'd be ready to go onto more of the basics for fighting. Unfortunately, when the sixty months indicated half a year, she made the mistake of opening a portal somehow. Unity felt pity for Amber, since she knew Amber was looking forward to harnessing her skills much better.

Looking around, she noticed Onewa nowhere in sight. Baring her teeth in anger, which was something she hadn't done in around a year, she ran out and chased down Onewa by his scent, although chasing people down by their scent was common to her. She had a tad bit of bloodhound in her, which enhanced her sense of smell. Finding him, she went at one-tenth her regular speed and jumped onto his back in vengeance. With a startled cry, he fell over. "Don't ditch me next time." Unity scolded him, "Staying together is important. After all, if I were to get lost, I'd hunt you down to the ends of this place and ensure that you would never leave in in a strange place ever again." With this, she smiled a growling smile and did one cart-wheel off of him.

Then, to indicate her threat's weren't real, she stuck his tongue out at him. With that, she walked away, all the while following Ahkmou's scent, of course, after having recaptured Ahkmou's scent again. With Onewa close behind, mumbling, she smirked, enjoying annoying him.

As Unity followed the scent, she realized that it was getting stronger and stronger. Getting a clear idea on where he is, she picked up the pace. Pretty soon, the Sculpture Fields, if she remembered correctly, were in view with Ahkmou's scent trail getting bigger and stronger. Pretty soon, Unity pointed to the top of one particular sculpture. "Be glad I helped this time. I don't know if I can give direct answers, so don't expect help from me this direct again. More like indirect."

Gaping at Unity for somehow correctly guessing where Ahkmou was, he was also confused by what she said. _Direct help? That was anything but direct! Well, except the pointing to that sculpture. And what does she mean she doesn't know if she can give direct answers?_

Glowering at her he ran to the sculpture while a taunting looking Matoran kept what might be very possible murderous comments to himself. Climbing up, the Toa of Stone looked at the bottom to see Unity having continuous trouble climbing up. "Curse these dog claws. I'm not a cat!" she whispered so that Onewa barely heard. Grinning, he was glad to have something to taunt her with after this torturous journey.

Despite this though, she showed perseverance and quickly surpassed Onewa. Surprised at her speed despite multiple almost-fallings, he gaped at how she was at the top around ten minutes before he got there. Glaring at Unity, he saw a grinning Unity, "Onewa, you must realize that despite my dog heritage, I am a much better climber then you considering Amber and Alena tutored me in it. In fact, they told me I would surpass them in both speed and skill were it not for my dog claws. And coming from both a half cat-half dog breed, along with a full cat breed, that's quite the compliment. Considering they aren't that shabby either. They still beat me in grace and speed, but, they studied my form apparently and were quite proud of it."

Grinning happily, Unity looked over the Po-Matoran. "Very strange. First time I got a close look at a Matoran. So this is what you looked like before Onewa?"

After a rather loud whack to Unity's skull, Onewa said angrily, "Were you not paying attention to the _other _Po-Matoran that you were scaring to no end?" "I don't pay attention when asking something. My mind was forming a picture of what was being discussed." She mumbled almost under her breath.

Then there was a whack.

And Onewa rubbing his head. "What was that for?" He demanded. "Just incase you were gonna get on my case.

Ahkmou smirked at the Toa's pain. Then asked Onewa some particularly rude questions. Like how he managed to look like a Toa. Unity wasn't paying attention to the conversation though. She saw a green figure with four legs and remembered Vakama's warning. Pretending to not notice him, she studied him. Gathering certain information, she noticed that his claws looked particularly nasty. He also had a bug-like appearance. What looked like mandibles seemed to be able to shoot something out from there. She wasn't sure, but his upper body, somehow seemed to hold traces of having once been a Toa, but mutated by something, but that couldn't be it… Could it? _Then again, with technology in all kinds of dimensions, this isn't surprising. Along with the appearance of both magic, and 'Elemental Powers' in most of them._

"Nidhiki!"

Startled, Unity looked around to see the Matoran running away while Onewa looked at where the strange being was. Jumping up, she snapped at Onewa and said the prey was getting away. Startled at the word 'prey' he looked to see both Matoran and Dog gone. He saw the Dog making unusually long jumps with ease that even Onewa doubted he could do with a guarantee for success.

Unity, despite making it look so easy to Onewa, was apparently having the hardest of time with making it across. Only Alena and Amber could jump this far without worry. They trained her in this area too, but she wasn't nearly as good as either of them. And nothing was holding her back for this part too. That was worse then climbing. It put down her pride. Then again, what pride did a full fledged dog have in jumping across areas that cats could with ease put them down in? And even then the cat could probably jump an extra 15-100 feet.

Looking back, Unity saw Onewa swinging his proto pitons across, digging them into the sculptures. _So lucky, even I could do that. Wish I had temporarily 'borrowed' them. _Smirking, she saw the Po-Matoran head into a really busy place. Frowning, she jumped down. Landing in the midst of the Po-Matoran, baring missing hitting one, she saw her target or 'prey' as she called him, disappear into the crowd. Frowning, she would have no trouble finding him. It all depended on whether the crowd let her through or not. Hopefully it was the first, she hated crowds.

"Rahi!" came the sudden cry. Angry at being thought a mere Rahi with no intellect, she snapped at the voice. "Don't call me a Rahi!" Unity said after having tracked down the Matoran. Baring her fangs, she growled. "I have far more intellect then you when I was born. At merely 1 year and half a year together, I have far more knowledge then you ever will in your entire life." Remembering her target, she glanced around to see that Onewa was dragging a struggling Po-Matoran away. Ahkmou's scent coming from it, she guessed he was caught. Grinning, she was glad to have found a distraction so that she didn't help directly in Ahkmou's capture.

Clearing the ground beneath her in a fortunately simple jump, she landed on Onewa's back. "So, shall I annoy you some more on the way back?" Unity smirked as Onewa groaned.

Staying on his back, Onewa knew it'd be a long walk home. And he wouldn't enjoy it. Unity probably will, Ahkmou definitely won't.

Closing her eyes, Unity smiled at the thought of getting to annoy Onewa some more. "You're my new toy." She murmured to him. "And a darn good one to tease too."

Onewa let out one more, much longer groan. Then started the trek back with a Po-Matoran in tow, while knocking Unity off. They were getting out of there before the Vahki arrived, but Unity didn't seem to concerned about them. That's when Unity started singing in a _very _off-tone manner. And it wasn't pleasant either.

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So, hopefully this gives you some insight into Unity. ^^ She's full dog, so what full-blooded dog wouldn't adore sand, dirt, and stone? Especially if their in a village where they make stuff. That and, Onewa strikes me as to mean and a sort of bully. So why not stick him with the silliest girl of the group? Anyway, next chapter will be Amber and Vakama. Just need to start typing it. Or finish it up. Anyway! Review cause I wanna see how people think of my writing skills.


	4. Vakama and Amber

Well... Merry Christmas. Hopefully you readers had a good time today. :P Anyway, here's Amber and Vakama. Also, to clear up some confusion, there won't be anything outside of friendship forming, I don't plan for anything else to happen. Also, Alena's just fine for me. After all, saying my proclaimed title is to long to type anyway. XP

Chapter 4

Gasping, Amber followed Vakama. Vakama was used to the heat. Amber wasn't. Her fur made it all the worse. Placing her hand on a wall to steady herself, she sighed in relief as the cold lining that was meant to resist the outer lining of her gloves kept her hands cool. "I should have followed Nokama." She gasped, "I didn't realize the heat would be this bad. At least in Ga-Metru there would have been water." Scolding herself for the weakness in which she had that longed for a cooler place, she decided to take this as a challenge to herself mentally. To get used to extreme heat and move around efficiently in it. It would be a later lesson in her training, so why not practice now?

Looking up, she saw Vakama glancing at her with a little bit of concern. Straightening up, she explained, "It's the fur." Studying Vakama calmly, she noticed that he seemed a little upset while they were heading to Nuhrii's and his forge. Keeping to herself, she decided to ask him once she knew more about him. He might not like her interference.

Following Vakama while withstanding the heat, Amber spent energy into examining her surroundings. Disturbed by the sootiness of Ta-Metru, she knew that even Unity's village, dedicated to machines and carpentry, would have never approved of this!

Looking around, she saw the Ta-Matoran glancing curiously at both Vakama and her, unfortunately mostly her though. Hurrying up to Vakama, Amber willed her gloves to become 10 degrees so that they left a trail of cold for her. With her legs feeling the cold of the gloves, she walked faster with a little relief.

Upon entering the forge though, Amber heard plenty of screams from a certain room. And a sloshing noise. Ignoring the heat, she burst through the door, only to stare in shock at what was in it. A great, sickening smell, and a huge green vine wrapped around a vat containing liquid that wouldn't look pleasant if it hit someone. It reminded her of lava. Grimacing, Amber had her gloves heat up to over a thousand degrees, glad that the cloth beneath it was one that would grow as cold as needed so that her hands weren't scalded. Looking at her gloves, Amber saw them glowing a cherry red. Looking up, she raced up to the vine with speed that could let others see her moving.

Jumping on the vine, she let her claws out, and started slashing at it. Plants hate heat. Heated gloves should work. Instead though, it was like there was barely a mark on it. The plant appeared to heal faster then her claws left marks. Disturbed at this, Amber considered many possibilities and made her gloves temperature down to a level that could freeze upon touch. Letting her claws still stay outside, Amber slashed the vine again. This time though, the slashes were much deeper. Still not enough to damage it severely though. That's when a warning came across.

Looking up, she saw some of the liquid flying towards her. Only a vine was covered in it. Grinning, she knew it was weak to cold. Jumping to a nearby ledge, she narrowly evaded the vine. Despite that, she felt a small shower of the liquid fly onto her tail. Shrieking in pain, she curled into a ball and sent her gloves to a soothing cold while pressing them against the burned tail. Looking at Vakama, she saw him loading a disk into what appeared to be a launcher. Shooting it, Amber followed it's path to see it hit the vine, after dodging it several times. Almost instantly, a very thick patch of ice started forming on the vine. Staring in amazement, she jumped down, while still holding her burned tail, next to Vakama.

A curious, "How'd you find out it's weakness?" followed. Looking at Amber, Vakama explained, "I saw your gloves turn an bluish color while you were attacking the vines that froze certain parts of the vine while you were scratching it, the vine started to attack you, and then decided to stop the vat from spilling. So I shot the vat with a freeze disk to stop it from turning. Then the hint grew larger as it recoiled from the ice after reaching over to try and tip it again."

"Amazing…" Amber breathed, "To notice tiny details like that and correctly guess what would happen. You'll have to explain these disks powers to me too. They seem like an intriguing weapon." Another thought crossed her mind. "Was that the Morbuzakh?"

Vakama looked at Amber and said, "Yes. We're lucky enough to escape with this little injuries."

"Where did you get such a good eye at noticing tiny details like that?" Amber asked curiously. "Mostly from carving masks." came a response, "Mask-maker's have to time making masks out of disks well. One tiny mistake and the mask risks even a tiny crack. Unfortunately, just one crack ruins the whole thing."

"How can a hairline crack ruin it?"

Pointing to his mask, Vakama said, "These masks are our lifelines. If we don't wear them all the time, then we'll die after a period of not wearing them." Nodding her head to indicate she knew what he meant, Amber looked around. "Is there a reason as to why it stopped? There were several other doors I saw as I ran to this one where the vats were speeding to fast for the Morbuzakh to grab."

Nodding, "The only thing I can think of is someone tampered with the controls." Vakama said to answer Amber's inquiry, while pointing to a Ta-Matoran. "He'll be leading the way for us.

"Lead the way then!"

As Amber and Vakama walked out the room, all the while follow the Ta-Matoran, Amber noted the damage done by the heated contents of the vat. What was apparently extensive damage, with still heated pools of running liquid, Amber paused for a moment and made her gloves temperature go to a point where it freezes everything in a certain area upon contact. Touching the pool, Amber watched fascinated while the liquid turned into a solid for a radius of ten feet away from her. Smiling, she noted with gladness at how her gloves were both indestructible and were able to go hotter then the sun along with being able to become cold enough to form a massive glacier. "That'll make it easier for them to clean up hopefully." She mumbled to herself, "After all, who could touch liquid so hot a touch could burn your hand off?"

Looking up again, Amber found that she was left behind by accident. Lifting her nose to the air, she found Vakama's scent line. It was faint, and almost completely overcome by the hot liquid's apparently hundreds of scent lines. Following the line, she traced it's path to a room. Taking her gloves off and stuffing them in the pockets of her shorts, Amber made movement by getting off her knees, Amber walked into the room to see Vakama fixing controls for a system.

Waiting for him, Amber stared at the walls of intriguing buttons and lights and patterns in it. Walking over to one wall, she put her finger on it to trace a pattern that caught her attention, but, due to taking her gloves off earlier, quickly withdrew her finger due to the heat coming off the wall. It wasn't nearly as hot as the other chamber, but still enough to cause discomfort as she found out.

Hearing footsteps, Amber saw Vakama walking over to her. "Where to next?" came the next question. "To the reject pile." Came a straight, and to the point reply.

Letting Vakama lead the way, Amber silently followed him. Her mind lost from reality, the only thing that didn't let her lose the Toa of Fire was her instincts in following the pack leader. The things her mind was on was what was going on here. And whether there'll be any more trouble in finding this Nuhrii.

After a while of walking, Amber found herself at the gates to a dump. Her nose scrunching at the acrid stench, Amber saw Vakama arguing with one of the Ta-Matoran to let them in. Ignoring the two, Amber jumped over the fence with a flip as easily as if it were a foot high and she were diving off a board high in the air into the water.

"Vakama! Just ignore the little guy and get over here!" Amber yelled, "I'm not going to listen to you argue with him all day." With that, Amber walked away from the gate, leaving Vakama and the Matoran. Seconds later, she heard the sounds of metal being heated and melted, and then Vakama's footsteps following.

Walking through the mask grave yard, Amber looked around calmly at the masks around her, then at Vakama. _He's an odd one. Although with the way he's working at this, it seems that he was a good choice for the title of 'Toa'. Sure, it'd be easy to find one little Matoran, but to have to find a Matoran in a huge city, with the city's fate resting in the hands of that one Matoran, all the while knowing that if the Matoran is killed, then the city is doomed. Then again, he probably has yet to realize that. If he, and the others, did though, he's handling the stress of it all with surprising calmness._

Turning back to the mask yard, she spotted a lone figure, and then sniffed the air. Small remnants of the Matoran they were searching for remained, she could see broken scent lines, but they were to difficult to follow. Unity would have had much less trouble following them, but with Amber's half dog heritage, her scent glands weren't as good as a full dogs, but better then Alena's nose. After all, Alena was a full cat. Not an inch of dog in her.

Looking behind her, she saw that Vakama had caught up. "He ain't here. He was, but isn't anymore. I'd follow the lines to where he went too, but their to scattered and broken up. He must have been searching desperately for that mask. Then again, only a dim-wit would fall for a note like that. Or someone desperate. You say he was jealous of you right?"

Lifting her nose to the air again, she sniffed it again, feeling more nervous. She remembered Vakama's warning at the temple, and was scenting the air again. Only this time it was to see who else had been in the mask yard. Frowning, she caught a scent, scattered like Nuhrii's, only it didn't have a trace of the similarity in the scents that all the Ta-Matoran shared. "I smell a more… Either earth or stone scent. Not at all like Ta-Metru. It's scattered about, only more faintly in some areas, and thicker in other areas. Almost as if the same person visited twice."

Taking another whiff of the air, Amber caught a far more fresh scent. This one showing similarity to the other Ta-Matoran. Formed only minutes ago. Looking around, she spotted the new appearance.

Doing a quick back flip onto a nearby pile of masks, she steadied herself as it threatened to fall-which probably would have had she not had part cat in herself. Gingerly placing a foot on each mask, she walked across the pile to look at Vakama and the Matoran converse.

Letting out a breath of air, she looked out around the area, then turned her head back to study the Matoran and Toa conversing. She saw the Matoran pass on a tablet and mask.

Studying the pile, she judged the distance and how hard it would be to jump from there to the small group. Deciding to risk it, she took the long jump to the two. Not without results though. As it turns out, a rather loud noise resounded as the mask pile partially fell in one section.

Amber's ears automatically flew backwards to try and block out the sound, still wincing due to being the closest to the noise. Unfortunately, it had ruined her concentration, and therefore landed in a heap on the ground- A long ways from landing on her hands and letting the blow run through her bones, and through her feet.

Letting out a cat-like groan, she got up from her rather sore position. Somehow she had landed on her belly, both a cat and dogs soft spot, even if her species worked hard to get it muscled in that area. So her wind was knocked out of her, and she was sore in that area. "Gah… Ignore me for now. What's the tablet say? I can't read your language."

Of course, when she looked up, she saw that Vakama was already running far ahead of her. She then heard laughing, and looked at the Matoran. Ignoring the red bio-mechanical being, she followed after Vakama, quickly catching up.

"What's… going on… Vakama?" Amber asked, slowly drawing breath during the sentence, well aware that to little air could make her lose ground due to overexertion. That and her accident was still hurting her stomach. She asked the question, despite knowing she won't get an answer. She did know that it never hurt to ask, just in case, though. She had no answer, so she knew that she wouldn't get one.

Dropping in line behind him, like her instructor taught her if someone's leading, she followed Vakama, occasionally looking at her surroundings to see if she could get an idea of where they were going. All she saw was the land getting more devastated though.

So she gleaned that this Nuhrii was in one of the more damaged parts of Metru-Nui. She did notice that his scent was getting stronger. So why would he come here?_I'll find out soon, should we get there in time._

Eventually, Vakama stopped, most likely to search the surroundings. "This place is dangerous, isn't it?" Amber couldn't help but question an all to obvious question. "If so, then why is he here?"

"I suspect he wants to surpass me." Vakama replied gravely.

"Why surpass you? Mask-making can't be that special. Then again, what do I know? This is my first time here anyway." Amber mumbled to herself quietly.

As Vakama started walking down the street, Amber's ears going this way, and that, she registered a help, which was also loud enough for Vakama to hear. Tracing the cry for help to what appeared to be an abandoned home, with an even worse sight with it, the pair found themselves running fast towards it.

Hearing Vakama's steps pausing, and a launcher being loaded, Amber was more then aware of the vines that were creeping up the house, that suddenly disappeared into thin air, as if they were either dissolved or teleported.

Turning to look at Vakama with a raised brow, she asked, "How did you do that?"

"Teleportation disk. I'm only hoping that the vines weren't teleported to a more popular area of the city though." Vakama said, with what appeared to be a frown on his mask. Nodding in understanding, Amber turned to the now more fevered cries for help, demanding them to let him out. Taking a quick jump into the house, Amber noted how crumbly the layout was. Then she stared at where the trapped Matoran was. "A puzzle." She said aloud, "However, it's simple enough that a Runt could figure it out."

"A Runt?" She heard the questioning voice of Vakama.

"Yes, it's what we call half-breeds of our species. We use that term because their much weaker then us, and lack certain traits of ours, but then again, certain traits of theirs are better then ours. Several of them in history have showed us up too. Like the famous Atira. She is the only one of the Runts to surpass some of our weaker Warriors. But this is no time for a history lesson. We have to get Nuhrii out, the puzzle looks to collapse soon, although be careful, it could collapse even while it's being solved. One mistake and Nuhrii could be as flat as a pancake."

At this, the yelling Matoran quieted. As Amber sat on one of the many jutting rocks in the house, she saw the puzzle threaten to collapse several times as Vakama undid it. With this, she spent the time reminiscing what had happened. _First of all, someone leads a Matoran into a trap. Then they lead us on a rather long hunt for him, only for us to 'coincidentally' arrive, just at the area the Matoran was trapped is under attacked. Then we find he's trapped in a puzzle. If he were wanted dead, he would be long ago. Someone wants him alive… But for what? For us to lead him to the great disks? I'll have to alert Unity and Alena of this. Who knows what could happen? An even though it'd be hard to capture us, like my instructor says,_ Never let down your guard in a new dimension. Cockiness could lead to your downfall, just like so many others of us that got to cocky._ Although… It doesn't make sense. The tablet in the mask yard smelled of another Matoran's, very faintly, and it was one from where Onewa came from. It's possible there's betrayal…?_

Startled out of her reminiscing by Vakama shouting, she stared at him as he rebuked the Matoran before him. She couldn't exactly blame him. The city in danger with a fame seeking Matoran? Not the best combination. However, it seems this guy has a grudge against Vakama. Is it possible the others do?

Narrowing her eyes at the Ta-Matoran, she growled her dog-cat-like growl. This obviously showed distrust. And made the Matoran recognize her presence. Feeling shocked eyes on her, Amber sighed, already used to the looks of surprising. "Scream, and you'll pay. I'm in no mood for it now. I'm putting puzzles together in my head on this mystery."

Nuhrii nodded in silent agreement. Eyes still wide at the strange, talking Rahi that no Matoran had ever seen. Amber sighed and started on a direction to the temple. Her inner instincts telling her where to go.

As the group of now three walked back to the Great Temple, everything was silent. The landscape, and the group. Although soon they came to civilized sections and sounds filled the background. Despite this, their group still remained silent. The larger beings filled with either large or small suspicion on their current situation.

Now then... Likey? Hatey? Reviews so that I know where to improve!


	5. Doctor vs ScholarWho will win? Part 1

Hmm... Sorry it took so darn long. Lots of things happened. I'll explain at the bottom. Pretty sure you guys want to just start reading. :P

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Chapter 5

"Gah! I so want shoes for my feet." Said a shivering Alena. "Are you sure you guys haven't heard of shoes? A cat's feet are delicate instruments."

"Yes, I'm very sure." An irritated Nuju replied icily.

"Lighten up! I just asked a question about something you never heard of before… What's wrong with that?"

"You'd be surprised. Why not try out the questions?"

"I'll pass. Mostly cause I found out how much fun it is to tease you."

"You were so quiet beforehand. Why so talkative now?"

"Complicated question!"

"How in Mata-Nui is it complicated if you know why?"

"No fun. Anyway, usually I'm quiet more then usual around those I just met, although if I'm alone with Amber and Unity, then I'm usually very hyper. Ask either of them and you'll know I'm telling the truth. I'm just warmed up to you. And your too quiet. I can't handle silent environments even though my feline hearing is very sensitive. We can tell someone first hand though that areas that seem silent, aren't truly quiet. Usually though, it takes about a hundred of your years for us to truly 'master' our hearing. Once it get's to that level, we can pick out a sound at will and hear it above all else."

All the time, Nuju was nodding irritably, wondering why such an annoying strange looking girl was following him. Unknowingly to him, this 'annoying strange-looking girl' was smirking, noting by his tense body language as to what he was thinking. Digging into the soft surface of the snow packed streets, she pulled up some snow, the cold shooting up her hands and into her body, causing her to involuntarily shiver, and packing it into a ball and throwing it straight at Nuju.

Hearing him let out a cry of surprise and irritation(Not cold though, he told her he couldn't feel it since he's an Ice Toa), he turned on her with a threatening look in his eye. Sticking her tongue out at him, Alena jumped onto a wall, using her claws to scale it with ease. Being mindful of if there were soft spots (Which so far there wasn't), she slowly scaled the wall, a bundle of a reddish-gold mixed with a white color, making her stand out among the buildings.

Her ears whirled around to face Nuju, who gave an exasperated sigh. Then she heard the sound of his tools digging in behind her.

"Nuju!" She called below, "We shouldn't have to worry about soft spots correct?"

"Yes."

Alena sighed, knowing that Nuju reverted back to 'I don't want to talk to you, so don't talk to me.' Then again, wasn't he already like that? Typical of scholars. In the Scholar Village, there were those like Nuju. And they always make her get a strange urge to irritate them.

"How are these towers made? If the scholars here are anything like the ones back home, then they have to prefer sitting around all day studying instead of working hard building something. And I doubt other Matoran are willing to build the buildings here out of ice. So how do you guys do it?"

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Alena couldn't stand it. "Lazy lil' Toa of Ice." Just loud enough so that Nuju could hear it.

"What did you say?"

"Lazy lily Toa of Ice. You know what lily's are right?"

"Yes. Plants here exist."

"Really? I would have never guessed."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Depends on how you look at it lil' mister. I bet I could whip your butt anytime, anywhere. After all, we're in the higher regions. Heights are my domain. Landing's my domain too. Us felines could fall several miles, land on our feet, and still act as if nothing happened.""How is that even possible?"

"Anything's possible. Just like how this feline your looking at is training to be a doctor. My first patient should be you. Although it'd be best if you don't have any life threatening diseases or injuries. I could make 'em worse."

"Is that a threat?"

"…Maybe."

"Threaten me and you'll live to regret it."

"Unless I get to your surgery first."

Silence once again. This time, Alena could see the top of the tower. Smiling happily, she crouched to the best of her abilities while staying upright on the tower. Then she used her legs to propel herself up. She was no warrior-in-training, but her feline abilities gave her either perfect, or almost perfect balance.

As she surpassed the ledge, a quick twist allowed her to land on the ledge with both feet landing first, and hands instantly touching the ground afterwards, transferring the blows back to the ground. Grinning, she whispered to herself, "Perfect landing."

Then leaning over the ledge, she yelled to Nuju. "Hurry up! You Ice Toa are apparently very slow."

Hearing a faint growl of irritation, she smirked after bringing her head back from being over the ledge. "So," She started once he was with her, "Tell me about this Ehyre. I could use some background on him."

Seeing the Ice Toa think over what she said, he reluctantly spoke. "He's more of an errand runner. He also desperately wants to be a Scholar. Always underfoot and begging me to get a chance to be one. After all, working in a tower requires wisdom, patience, and experience."

"And what prevented him from doing it?"

"He was to enthusiastic and had to much energy for it."

"I see… I'd have to say enthusiastic was a good sign. And me and Unity both have to much energy. Yet I'm training to be a doctor. So I'd have to say that, despite the enthusiasm, and more energy then needed, if he has the knowledge and memory, then he mighta made a good one. After all, the Scholars where I come from who have to much energy usually expend it through minor exercise. Who knows his true abilities outside of himself?"

"I see. So I wouldn't know his true abilities unless I actually let him?"

"Yes! There's some of my species who made wonderful workers in certain areas despite the way they gave others a feeling they wouldn't do well in that area. However, as usual, the Test proves us wrong."

"The Test?"

"It determines our future jobs. However, sometimes we leave it to chase something else that caught our interest. The Test is never wrong however. It's strange how it works, but it just works out."

"I also noticed that your saying 'My species' instead of your species name. Why is this?"

"Hmm… I guess it's just a habit for us? After all, we're well aware that some things that are revealed about us could hurt us. Enmalian's are very wary of others outside of our species. I guess that a species that's mostly animalistic, and partly human is naturally cautious. Then again, we're the main species out of all the half-human, half-animal's.. So it's not uncommon for when we speak around others outside of our own Dimension to avoid our name."

"I see. So what does this 'animalistic' part of you tell you?"

"It's telling me right now that Ehyre should have had a chance to see how he'd make it as a Scholar."

"And why is this?"

"Because soon this city will be empty and full of something else. Animal instinct. It's rarely wrong."

"Then let's pray you are wrong. But what gives you the guess?"

"Hmm… I saw announcements from that 'Turaga Dume'. He seems very dark, and something makes me inwardly despise him. Then there's this 'Morbuzahk'. I take it that Matoran are disappearing due to it. So that must mean something? Then, there's this strong, dark presence clouding the city. Very evil. Among human's, it's said an animal has a very strong, 'supernatural' sense. Their so very right."

"And this gave you that conclusion? Then does it tell you that the Morbuzahk will lose?"

"Nope. But it doesn't tell me it'll win either. The 'something else' could just be the Morbuzahk anyway. Or something entirely different."

At this, all went silent. Then Nuju took a running jump from the tower they were at, to another tower, only instead of landing on the top, he kept swinging. Following his lead, Alena, instead of swinging, jumped from ledge to ledge, taking advantage of her full feline heritage.

Seeing Nuju land next to a chute station, from what he called it on a quick, verbal guide to Metru-Nui. Jumping from one of the towers lower ledges, she landed ten feet behind him, and followed him into the station.

Letting Nuju talk to the station manager, she examined the area, then noticed the odd trinkets. Taking quick note of them, she knew that since this was an area where Ehyre had come, they either had importance, or weren't that important. Her sense of smell was weak, but she could barely pick up the faint scent of something similar to Onewa. So why was a Po-Matoran passing Ko-Metru?

Her hearing told her that Nuju was moving walking around the room too, ignoring the trinkets, but making sure to remember them should need be, she walked off as Nuju, for once, started a conversation with her.

"Is there any way for you to sniff Ehyre out? After all, we were only just at his house."

"Oh my! It's a miracle! You started a conversation with me! Me of all people!"

"No jokes or sarcasm. I just want the straight answer."

"Nah. I'd only be able to sniff him out if he were at least a hundred to five hundred feet away from him. You'd be better off with Amber or Unity. Both have dog in them. Unity can smell thousands of different scents around her for miles. Amber's senses were halved due to inheriting a feline history though. But she could probably sniff 'im out faster then me. My hearing's superior to them though. Sure, everything's low-key, but I can hear things around me for miles. It's argued among felines' and canines as to who is superior in hunting. Gah! I'm getting into the educational talk again! Is that a curse for all of us or just me!"

At this, Nuju raised his eyebrows. _Does he even have any? It looks like he does, and yet it looks like he doesn't simultaneously. _Alena couldn't help but think to herself.

"First of all, educational talk isn't that bad. Second, theories on those items?" With this, he gestured to the dropped items.

"Either random junk, or it is something important to Ehyre and whoever else it was." Alena said.

"Don't dumb your talk down for me. I can perfectly understand."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you didn't see the obvious."

"Of course I saw the obvious. There's a possibility there was another reason."

"Really want another one? Okay! The ghost of a Matoran dropped it there after dying a bloody death!"

"What the-? There is no such thing as ghosts."

"Really? You say that, but why do I get a dark feeling? Also, there's gonna be another ghost to join those in the Great Beyond. If we don't find that Ehyre soon, he's joinin' 'em. I'm tired of searching for him."

"And what if he's the only person who knows about the Great Disks location?"

"Lily, I never said I would KILL him before we find it. Heck, I never even said I'd kill him."

"You say you said you never said you'd kill him. But you did less then a minute ago."

"Tongue-twister! And yes, I said I'd kill him, but who says I couldn't deny it?"

Silence once again.

"Eh? I actually shut your mouth off? Aren't ya gonna retort an insult?"

Silence again.

"Nuju! You lost your voice!"

"Silence!"

"Up, nope. You didn't. Yay! You aren't a mute like many of the Ko-Matoran here!"

"Can we just go?""Nope."

"AHEM!" came a very loud suspicious cough from the nearby Ko-Matoran. "If your going to argue, take it outside, I'm studying for a chance to join the Knowledge Towers."

"Good luck midget!" With that, Alena gathered up the items, hoping to see if she can compare scents on them. And if not, then at least have something interesting to show her friends. Yawning as she exited, she was aware of a Matoran backing away from her, cautious of her unusually large fangs. Eyeing the Matoran lazily, she walked right past him. She hadn't had a cat nap in a while now. Of course, she decided to wait for the temple.

After all, sleeping in the open might be dangerous. She didn't exactly want to risk it. Then, looking back, she noticed Nuju wasn't there. "I swear, the next time I see him, I'm skipping surgery and going straight towards the 'Accidental hit to the head that killed him by accident.'"

Of course, she knew the Ice Toa had gone into one of the chutes, but wasn't sure which. Mostly because she didn't expect him to leave her in the middle of the city. Then again, she HAD been rather rude to him, so she should have expected it. Especially with his personality. Why she didn't expect it, she doesn't know though.

Sighing in frustration, she started her trek through the cold Metru. Her fur blocked most of the cold, which was fortunate. But her hands and feet weren't exactly covered. With either fur or cloth. Hr feet got the brunt of it though, mostly because they were touching the snow. Her hands, she folded into her arms. She bristled her fur up for where her hands were to keep them even warmer.

Ignoring the cold feet, she walked in the direction of one of the many towers, taking a gamble. And since she was bad with gambles, it'd be very troublesome more then likely.

Breathing in as she accustomed to the cold, she took a wrong corner. Sure, it wasn't life threatening, but it was a very bad gamble. The worst possible. And it'd almost definitely reveal that her and her friends were there. Even if the Matoran they passed had reported them.

"Vahki…" She slowly breathed in, well aware of the towering robotic giants abilities. Once again, due to Nuju's quick verbal tour of Metru-Nui.

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Sorry for the late update. ^^' My reasons are Ebay, School, Christmas, cat seizure, *Don't worry, she lives and is perfectly fine*, not to mention all sorts of other things.

Also, at first I had no intention of having Alena separated from Nuju. I just accidentally started typing her out the door and then realised Nuju chuted there. Not walked. :P So, instead of backtracking, my hypered mind from lack of sleep suddenly made me make her separated from Nuju. I want reviews on how ya'll liked that idea. ...I also had fun writing those arguements between Nuju and her. Can anyone tell? =3

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And here the rest of the chapter! I am SO sorry I left part of the chapter out. - If anyone ever notices that my paragraph lacks unisone with the next chapter, or ends with no period, and instead just a word or comma, please let me know and I'll look into it! I really hate it when that sort of mistake comes as a result of my lack of noticing it. Aw well. It's me! This was bound to happen at some point. =P


	6. Alena vs Vahki

Alright, alright, someone hit me. I procrastinated again. D= Although I have a good excuse! School, homework, and I was unsure how to do Alena's battle scene, which, even I was surprised at, how much more fighting then Amber she does. O-o Then again, with someone with their kin of strength, would you run or fight?

I know I'd fight. XD Anyways, onto the story!

Chapter 6

"Alrighty ya big ugly things." Alena said, slowly backing away, raising her hair and baring her teeth on instinct. _Then again, would a robot retreat even if something had a huge advantage over them? No, definitely no. Not unless they had a brain transplant. Then again, it's very rare for that to happen. Or did it ever happen? _Alena thought to herself.

"Come and get me!" And with that, Alena was backtracking where she had come from not as fast as was shown in the Great Temple, but still very fast. Of course, she did fast thinking while running.

_These guys are supposed to find the person their chasing by somehow tracking them down right? And they can go until they run out of juice? Then let us see how long their batteries run! All the while with no determined destination! Just run and run and run and run! And run some more! We'll see who's energy runs out first. Mine, or Keerahks. Maybe I'll pick them off one by one too…_

Then, shouting over her shoulder, she shrieked, "It's war! First to get tired loses!"

Now then, if someone outside of the Enmalian species were to shriek that to a bunch of… Bio-mechanical robots bent on either capturing you and hauling you to a cell of forever stillness, or killing you, you would have to be very insane. Or confident. But, she was Enmalian, and if there's one thing their very famous for (At least the dimensions they interact with enough for it to be next to impossible for them to have been heard of), it's having more then enough power, energy, and speed to outrun virtually anything outside of their species.

As she was running, she was quite surprised to hear objects whirling at her. Then her head processed that Vahki could somehow conjure disks to throw at the Matoran they were chasing.

Slowly, a plan formed in her head. And with it, her plan of outrunning the Vahki to no power died away. Instead, her head wondered what a Vahki looked blowing up. And who knows? She might drag Nuju in at the same time. Her gut told her he'd be on the top of a knowledge tower soon enough anyways.

Turning her head to get a headcount of the Vahki, she grinned to see ten heads. _Oh goody, ten times the pleasure of blowing up Vahki. _Turning her head back, she saw a cluster of knowledge towers slowly approaching.

Clenching her weaponless hands, a long-time habit, she assessed the towers, number of Vahki, and how much time she'd have to blow them up before passing the towers. Then she studied what she could use to blow them up. Eyes growing wide in a calm panic, she silently took in the few things she could use to combat them. A long pole. The only thing.

If she wanted to lose them, she'd have to combat them hand to hand, and hope they didn't use those strange disks they produced out of nowhere. Sighing in frustration, she resigned to the now inevitable fate.

Now she had to thank her lucky stars she hadn't done what Amber had done in the temple. Amber, due to her training, could withstand going at the sort of speed she had demonstrated in the temple. But doing that, even for a warrior sixty months into training, it'd put an unknown strain on the body. So more then likely she was feeling the effects but not really realizing it. Instead blaming the heat. Although when she finally sat down, more then likely the effects would come full blow, although minimal for her.

Alena could risk doing it to take them down, but with her unstrained runs, and mostly studying all day, it'd be risky. She would feel the effects in full blow before even taking them all down. There'd be cramps. Enough to temporarily paralyze her. And she had already tested it before, to see what it feels like.

Her female instructor could barely contain her laughing, after finding the lion/leopard hybrid laying flat on the ground, fully conscious, but temporarily paralyzed. Alena had refused to explain exactly why she couldn't come down even after the vigorous yelling for her to come down.

She had stomped up the stairs in a huff, upset as to why her pupil wouldn't listen. Seeing her student face down on the ground, stiff and sore from the 'quick testing', she busted into, not an upset and mean laughter, but more of a bright cheery one. Alena was proud. To the point that she wouldn't tell what was bothering her, all in the hopes of solving it on her own. Even after this little incident occurred.

Her instructor gave her the day off from all activities, knowing that her temporary occurrence would leave her paralyzed for some time. Then again, she didn't know that her smart, independent, and soon-to-be well trained student would end up in this sort of situation.

Snapping out of her reverie, Alena realized she was several hundred feet past the pole. "Remind me to never lose concentration during a cat and mouse chase EVER again." She told herself, irritated at how she would have to run back to fetch the pole. She was no fighter, but she wanted to see how minor bits of samples of what Amber's trainers had taught her would help her.

Grinning, she stopped and skidded on her feet for a short distance. Then, before stopping, she was already running the opposite direction. Covering the short distance with her cat-like abilities, she quickly grabbed the pole and had it smashing through the head of a Keerahk while it was baring down on her. Right on time too, because a disk was half formed to indicate it would have shot her without hesitation. She catapulted over it, a short distance away.

Instantly recoiling and jumping away over twenty feet or more before it exploded, she covered her face as a mini-explosion occurred. Of course, the Vahki showed no emotion at their exploded ally. Alena couldn't help but grimace. "This is why I always preferred _living _police. At least they have emotion." She said flat out to the Vahki, uncaring as to whether they understood her or not.

Paying attention to the Vahki, she noted how they had surrounded her. Teeth curling, and her fur puffing out, she let out her most ferocious snarl. Even the most courageous of the living, outside of Enmalians, would have backed off. Surprisingly enough, these law enforcers took a step back, small though it was, it seemed even these had brains too.

The one who started speaking, and who she assumed was the leader, spoke to her in a high pitched voice, which made it extremely difficult to tell what he was saying. However, her hearing allowed her to make out a few words. Something about surrendering and dying.

Snarling again, she spoke, strange though it was to mechanical beings, "I refuse to surrender. And if I died, there are high chances that someone from my home would come and destroy all you Vahki. Turning you into junk heaps. Which you all belong in."

That last sentence seemed to do it. All Vahki lunged at her simultaneously. Her skills and excellent sight allowed her to see it coming, which allowed her to jump high over their heads.

Coming down, she was happy to see that she had jumped up fast enough for them to not see what had become of her. Although if they either look up or somehow had recording in that they could reference too, she'd be in trouble.

Luck with her, she came crashing down, sticking the pole at an angle that allowed her to take out two more of the machines. "Seven left!" She said triumphantly. Rounding on the other seven, she let loose another threatening growl.

Ears twitching around like the mini-radars they were, and eyes on the alert for anything. Eyeing the seven with a hunter's eye, she stated, "Every one of us learns a small amount of fighting for just incase. That's the rule we abide by. Even the weakest ones."

Then, she threw it. All the way through one Vahki. The second one behind it was just coincidence. _Did the silly thing want to die?_ Alena thought to herself smugly. Of course, just incase it was a trap, her ears worked harder, increasing the amount of noise she heard until she could hear every movement the Vahki made, even the little gears inside that made no noise.

Then again, only the humans and this world, apparently, could only hear the louder sounds. Grinning from ear to ear, she let her tongue roll out of her mouth, and instantly assumed the image of one that was tired, laying on the snow and breathing hard, despite using only a fraction of her energy. She panted, on and on until the enemy was sure of their victory, as if numbers finally won out.

In her head, she was in hunter mode. The hunters were being the hunted. And she would bring ten of them to their doom. Five already down, five more to go. As they surrounded her, she was already well aware that they were being more cautious around her. She almost felt a grin grow on her face. Almost.

Her job was still not finish. Her pole lodged so deep into the side of a Knowledge Tower, it barely stuck an inch out of it. Her only remaining weapons were teeth and claws. But she needed patience. Patience that she was slowly running out of. And no patience means no victory. The occasions were rare that no patience solved something, although with if her species merely numbered the size of one human planet, they would be rather common.

Eyeing the Vahki with a faked look of defeat. She could almost tell they were surprised at her giving up. Almost because these things rarely showed emotion. If any. Infact, the time they backed off a foot or two was more then likely due to them trained to back off so that they would have a better chance of surviving a Rahi attack.

She had to anticipate anything. Even a sneak attack. That's exactly how they were taught.

Seeing them finally let up their guard and come closer. She counted the seconds. Three… Two… One… Finally, she sprung up, not as high as before however. One fist went straight into the head of one of them. The other into the body of the same one. Ripping her hands out, she barely flinched as her hands came out, skin harder then humans skin, came out with scratches and deep scraps on them. Most, if not all, of them bleeding. Whispering to herself, she whispered, "Fight now, pain later."

Then her fists went into another one of the Vahki's surrounding her. Unfortunately for it, it was the slowest of the other four to react. The others had all jumped away immediately. Even she jumped away and raced up a wall to escape it's explosion. If those things wiring could do bad scratches on her as her hands punched through them, she did not want to imagine what one exploding in such close range could do to her, much less experience it. She also did not want to be up-close to two exploding.

Looking at the other three, she noticed they were caught in the explosion. Deciding they were finished, she set about cleaning her wounds.

Tongue rasping along fur damp with her own blood, she was inwardly satisfied to have defeated ten enemies on her own. Her spit, which could normally heal humans with varying wounds at a much faster rate, merely acted as antiseptic, dampening the pain in her arms and destroying any dangerous germs that could get into her.

It was a shame, although she could understand. A species who was more powerful then any other species, who could also heal their own wounds at a lick of the tongue, would be very fierce some. Although it was able to heal most wounds though, it could merely heal bodily harm, not some sort of viral infection. After all, if their spit could heal anything, what use would a doctor be?

Licking out a particularly deep wound, thankful the antiseptic was working already, her ears picked out a whirring sound. Looking up, she was fairly alarmed to see one headed directly at her. Nimbly dodging, she noted that apparently one of them had survived. The one she had deemed group leader.

Standing up, she leaped down at him with outstretched claws and bared teeth, ready to maul the machine below her. Coincidentally, the Vahki was forming a disk also.

By the time it was complete, she was punching her claws through it, rendering it in half, her hand screaming in pain from the shards entering the open wounds she had never bandaged. Her hand went straight through the disk, and directly into it's head. After it had punched through all the way, and she had drawn it out from a sparking body, she was dismayed at the sudden loss of energy.

Falling to her knees as her seemingly never-ending energy was sapped away, she spat out a curse word at the Vahki, it's body still sparking. All in an instant. Her head told her she had ten seconds flat to get away. And with failing energy, she made an instant bound that clearly landed her fifteen feet away from it, barely out of range.

This also clearly meant she very possibly will take in some shards from it's mechanical body. Landing clumsily, she attempted crawling away, merely getting several more feet in before the explosion. Staring straight ahead, she showed little to no surprise at an object landing about a foot away from her. The head of her victim. Hissing menacingly again, her arms were burning with the pain of shards and long deep scratches in them, and strength that left her with enough energy that was weak enough to lose to a kitten, she lay there.

She also stayed awake, staring at the curious and awe-struck Ko-Matoran who were staring back at her, amazed that one simple being had taken out ten Vahki in less then ten minutes. Sticking her tongue out to lap up some of the snow in front of her, she let it sit in her mouth, letting it melt from the heat of her mouth. Of course, she then swallowed, grimacing all the same. Blood snow. Of course, deep scratches and shards in them would make her arms bleed again.

Staying in the same outstretched position, she heard unusually large footsteps, larger then a Toa's, coming from behind her. Only one other could make those footsteps. More Vahki. Keeping silent, she stared icily at the Ko-Matoran and those few from outside the Metru.

Giving them a toothy grin, she attempted getting up again before collapsing. Feeling the Vahki lift her up viciously and sling her over his shoulder, she let out no grunt of pain. Merely falling asleep to escape the pain.

* * *

I did most of this in at least one day, be glad I was on inspiration hours. However, at the point where she falls asleep, I blanked.

So, who here thinks I should have her taken to Dume? Or maybe being about to be put into the Onu-Matoran's Rahi-jugs? *That's just my own personal nickname for them* Either way, there'll be all sorts of mayhem. =D

Which I particularly enjoy with this character. ^^ Slightly reckless, with a small amount of warrior spirit, but more then enough spirit for her to be put into the village dedicated to medicine. And yes, this is another short chapter... x.x *In MY opinion at least*


	7. Alena Gains A Friend

. .

I. Am. Sorry. D= I have a lot going on though. Like lots of tests, and then there was that trip to Arizona a few days ago. And we're redoing the kitchen entirely. x.x Lots to do. Anyways, I wanted Alena to go to Onu-Metru, AND meet Dume. So why not put the two together? :P Yes, more battles. And a newcomer.

Just don't ask how he came into the story. I have no idea either. XD

Chapter 7

She was aware of everything. Every little noise didn't go unnoticed. She was only in a light sleep, just deep enough to escape the pain. So she still heard everything.

She heard the whispers of silent Ko-Matoran all around her. Most, if not all, of them wondering what she was. More then likely because she had taken out ten Vahki so soon. She also heard the Vahki's mechanical joints move. Soon, everything was silent, or, silent as far as silence goes.

She still heard everything. The sound of the still wind, the screech of Rahi, and the occasional chatter of Ko-Matoran runners. Whenever she slept, she could always hear the world in more detail then when awake.

She was even aware of her surroundings. This is because the sounds she was hearing slowly closed off and became more trapped. Of course, the 'trapped' sounds only occurred after several hours.

Finally, she woke up, although who wouldn't if they were thrown roughly to the ground, with the hands of a Matoran slowly tying her limbs?

Letting out a growl of irritation, which was rather uncommon for her, she watched as the terrified Matoran backed away as she got up, breaking the chains on her legs with faked ease, then promptly continued licking her wounds again. Apparently the areas where shards had either cut or entered already made wounds were easy to find, since they refused to let the blood stop.

She still felt slightly weak, unfortunately, or else she would have left long ago. But she was more then strong enough to move around of her own will.

Once finished cleaning her wounds, she stared at the Matoran, mostly because the Vahki had left long ago. The Matoran was whispering softly to himself, wondering what kind of strange creature she was.

"Keh. Ya'll are idiots." Alena said to the Matoran. Startled, the Matoran stared at her. "You can speak?" He said, dumbfounded.

Snorting, she replied, "Oh, so those who meet my species instantly regards us as animals? Even if we're from a society the likes of which few will ever have the hopes of seeing? Who are you?" At this point, the steam had left her, so Alena's voice suddenly became calmer.

"Society? How can you guys have one if your kind doesn't even exist!"

"Am I not living proof?" Alena replied, now in her casual voice. "We merely do not live in this dimension. Now then, tell me your name and I'll tell you mine."

At this, Alena couldn't help but notice the Matoran shiver and possibly wonder if she was planning something, what with how calm and relaxed her voice and actions became. "My names… Gaius."

"Gaius? Fascinating name. I know several at my home. Anyways," Alena said, shaking her head to get rid of the rising giggles, "My names Alena. Pleased ta meet'cha." At this, she held out a fist to him, and the Matoran clonked it, albeit hesitantly, with her's.

Smiling inwardly, Alena had guessed correctly at this area's greetings. Clonk the fists. She had guessed this because of how they mostly consisted of armor. Then, taking a deep breath through her nose, even if she couldn't tell by the Matoran's armor, she could tell he was Onu-Matoran. "Gaius, could ya tell me where I currently am?"

"Currently in the Archives. Turaga Dume's coming down to see this species that took out ten of his best Keerahk in so short a time. Guess he wanted to see how you acted before putting you in stasis."

"Status?" At this, Alena's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, we put all captured Rahi in giant tubes with a special gas. It slows their metabolism and allows them to live much longer then usual without food or water."

At this, Alena burst out saying, "Animal abuse! Free the animals!" And pounded the side of the bed, and since it was made of stone, creaked heavily before cracks went around where the fist had hit it.

At hearing about how the Matoran here put Rahi into a stasis, and her kind being mostly animalistic, she was almost definitely enraged. Although, who would if they were told they were going to be put into status?

Of course, she calmed down almost immediately. _What good will going into a rage be? After all, I'm up past the tips of my ears in this mess. _She thought to herself.

Of course, the queen of coincidences as she was, the second she and her newfound friend went silent, the door opened. In walked the famous Turaga Dume. And with him, his dark aura in all it's greatness. Along with a Vahki escort consisting of one of each of the six Vahki.

Remembering the earlier fight, Alena unconsciously growled. Of course, it could have been influenced by the dark aura. Almost instantaneously, she spoke, "Your Turaga Dume?" She couldn't help but spat the name out of her mouth as if it were an unripe and sour berry.

"Of course!" Dume exclaimed, "I take it you're the creature that beat ten Vahki. I had a feeling that if you could take out all ten, then you had to have some level of intelligence in yourself."

"Well of course!" Alena said, saying each word sarcastically, "What did you expect from me? All Rahi are smart, it's just very few chose to acknowledge it."

"Really? Smart Rahi that are captured with ease? I'm shocked at how smart they are." Dume said sarcastically.

"You'd be surprised at how smart they can be upon being trained. Although, how're idiots to know that if they don't even understand their language?"

"Idiot? Your calling a Turaga with thousands of years experience an _idiot?"_ Dume said harshly.

"Yes. Although… Your not the real Dume are you." Alena stated.

At this, Dume looked thoroughly shocked. _Sheesh, how fake can you get? _Alena thought to herself. "And what makes you assume that I, Turaga Dume, am not the real one?"

"Simple. Since when do Turaga's carry aura's so dark, it goes from one end of the city to the other?" Bored, Alena picked at the cracks she had made in the table from earlier. Dume followed her hand to the spot.

"Your able to make cracks that large so soon after punching through a disk that weakens?"

"You think that lowly of me?"

"Oh no. It's just that it's rare for someone like you to get enough strength to hit stone that hard. Especially with a hand with no armor covering it and yet also has wounds on it."

"You'd be surprised." Alena said, eyeing the room for weapons. Just a metal bucket that looks to be useful enough to merely carry things.

"So… You suspect I'm not Turaga Dume?" The Turaga eyed her warily.

"Of course. Ain't Turaga's supposed to carry a friendly Aura? Not one full of evil?"

During their barter of words, the Turaga's eyes slowly went over to the Matoran still in the room. "How much of this do you believe Gaius?"

"Well, she IS right about one thing. You've been… A little off lately. Not totally, but as if you've gained a more evil personality. None of the Matoran have noticed even though I brought it up among friends though. So I thought it was just me, at least until she said it…"

"You'd rather believe a stranger?" The Turaga questioned silently.

"Kinda… Yeah. I guess so. Her logic seems good." Gaius said, cocking his head in curiosity.

Of course, he only just noticed Alena's stare. Telling him silently to shut up. "Oi kershizzlenit Matoran." She stated, "You've no idea what your in for now do ya?"

Slowly, the Matoran nodded. "Faintly…"

At this, the Turaga slowly grinned. Alena tensed, knowing what was next. "Vahki, capture this talking Rahi. We'll have to put her in status immediately. The Matoran, however, we'll be taking back to the Coliseum."

Immediately, everything was a jumble of confusion. One minute Alena was on the table, the next she had one of her fists inside a bucket, instantly smashing through several of the Vahki's heads.

Of course, the other three Vahki went for Gaius, while the other three rounded on Alena. At least, that's what they had planned. Alena's last battle with them had given her the good and bad points on these mechanical enforcers. It took them about a second to prepare their shots.

And what with Alena's history of running all the time, this was slow in her book. She stood stock still, waiting for the perfect moment. Then, the instant she noticed they were powering up, her bucket covered hand smashed through the heads of one of the Vahki, obviously avoiding the area the disk would be forming. She was fortunate that she had hit that type of disk, especially afterwards, since even she didn't want to know how badly any of the other disks would have effected her.

The Vahki's head went soaring off the base of between it's shoulders and hit the part where wall and ceiling connect. That's when she ran out of time for the first one.

The other two Vahki shot their disks at her, and Alena dodged with ease. She then rounded on the Nuurahk, taking it's head out too. She then dodged her way past the Bordahk, the only one in her group left, and did a running jump onto one of the Vahki in Gaius's small group, and quickly smashed a Rorzahk's head in.

Alena then did a back flip over the Vahki's electrocuting head and next to the Matoran. Shoving him behind her, she glared at the Vahki, baring her teeth, "So, who's my next meal?" She said, fictionally speaking. Then slammed the bucket covered hand into the Keerahks body, sending it flying into the wall, quickly ducking the Zadahk's blow to her stomach simultaneously.

She then planted her oversized animalistic feet on Zadahk's chest, and quickly sent her foot straight through the Vahki's body, hearing the grind and crunch that met her expectations.

As soon as the three of the second group of Vahki had been cleared, she grabbed the Matoran and ran out into the hallway. Looking left and right, she went the way with the fewest sounds. "Gaius, what's the fastest way out of these tunnels?" She asked quickly, once she had paused for a breather.

"Well, obviously the other way." The Matoran said, gasping slightly at the fast-paced events and how Turaga Dume ordered Vahki on him. _Can't really blame him, can I? I appear and turn his life upside down. _Alena couldn't help but think that.

"Sorry, but we'll have to go the long way. To many footsteps over that'a way. Also, I do believe it'd be best if you piggyback. Cause there'll almost definitely be speedy escapes needed."

At this, Alena finally glanced down at her bucket shield. It looked exactly as she expected. It's weak and flimsy metal was practically formed to her fist from beating down five Vahki. Unfortunately, she couldn't dispose of it until she was rejoined with the group, considering that she more then likely would have to punch her way through even more lines of Vahki.

Growling, Alena licked her jaws, even though her victims were metal. Her more natural feline instincts were raging and eager for battle. Her doctor instincts slowly being crushed from battle. At this point, she would merely be fighting by instinct.

"I'll have to converse with Unity about the need for weapons." Alena said aloud, on purpose, just to hear a voice. Sure, she could hear several from miles away, but who, in her predicament, would be interested in the latest capture of a new Rahi?

"Unity? As in the Virtue?" Gaius said with curiosity in his voice.

"Virtue? You guys follow Virtue's? And the word Unity is part of it? Oh no. Unity's another Enmalian. Those outside her ring of friends would consider her rather… Annoying. But she's got a very good heart, and always means well. She particularly enjoy's chatting with animals. Just to get to know them and know which of the hundreds of things the Machine village builds every year affects them. Not to mention… It's a shame she doesn't even have a hint of cat in her." Alena said, fondly remembering past conversations with her friend.

"Oh. So there's more of you here?" Gaius inquired.

"Of course. But I'm not gettin' into that story." Alena replied, getting slightly nervous at the louder footsteps were getting. "We outta go now. Getting' dangerous. I hear footsteps. Long ways off, but still, you never know. Not with this bunch."

With that, she scooped the Matoran off his feet and onto her back, then ran off silently. Although before that, a thought had occurred to her. Perhaps Whenua was still here? After all, this Tehutti might still be out there. So there was the slight possibility that he was still here.

Then again, should she risk attempting to find someone who might not even still be here? All that might happen was that she'd lead the Vahki to one of the Toa Metru. She had no idea what his abilities went to as far as becoming a new Toa Metru.

She still says they should have tested out their powers first before leaving the Great Temple. Of course, using their new powers in a battle shortly after gaining them might be great experience.

Alena was, of course, experiencing minor inner turmoil. Then, before punching a hole in the wall in frustration, she froze. Why not continue on outta here? If she doesn't meet up with Whenua, his loss. If he does, his loss again, cause she was a trouble magnet.

Hearing the Vahki approach closer, although not close enough for panic yet, she continued down the huge network of tunnels, going where the Matoran occasionally pointed to indicate a way out.

Of course, since an invisible being called Miss Irony existed, she ended up bumping into Whenua. Well, technically, she heard him a little bit before-hand, so she was technically prepared for jumping aside whereas Whenua wasn't ready for her.

So he ended up skidding into the cave wall from the shock of virtually seeing someone who _should have _been with a certain little Toa of Ice. Well, that and, he was running to turn the corner, didn't expect her, so when he stopped on his brakes, he skidded.

Alena couldn't help but let out a tiny felines' laugh. In order for that to have happened, he had to have been running pretty fast. "Geez, Whenua, don't run into walls when Vahki are around." Alena said, slightly chuckling, and dragged him to his feet.

Slightly dazed, the Toa seemed to have recovered instantly upon hearing the word 'Vahki'. Instantaneously, a wall appeared completely out of nowhere. Well, not _nowhere, _considering that she both felt and heard the mini shock, and the rumbling it had made for one corner.

Of course, a second went up for the second corridor that Whenua had come out of. "Somethin' tells me there was either Vahki down there or something very bad." With this leaving only a third corridor left.

"Something worse then Vahki." Whenua simply stated.

"Ah."

Then Alena saw Whenua's eyes study her little guest. "Who's this one? He wasn't part of the six Matoran who-" At this, Alena slapped a hand on his mouth.

"Dimwit. The guy just had Turaga Dume sick Vahki on him just for agreeing with an opinion of mine."

At this, Whenua's eyes widened. "You met the Turaga himself? What in Mata-Nui's name happened?"

"It's… A very, very long story." Alena said, "Best to be waited for AFTER we're out of trouble."

Then, staring at the only open corridor, Alena deposited Gaius from the piggyback ride after running at speeds the Matoran more then likely wouldn't have caught up with. "Phew," She said relieved, "No sounds of Vahki down this way." She could hear only sounds from tiny creatures, not loud enough to worry about.

Despite this though, she slightly adjusted the bucket on her hand. "Let's just prepare for the worst. Ya know never know what'll happen. Also Whenua, if that wall falls down before we're out of this place, my bucket's gonna find it's way into that head of yours."

Whenua slightly nodded, confident in his work. "Anyways, what's with your hand?"

"This," At this, she held up her bucket-covered hand. Snickering in glee, she waved the not-so-menacing weapon that actually took out five Vahki in total, "Took out five Vahki. Try and beat that with just a bucket."

"Where's the weapon part of it?"

"My fist. The bucket's a shield. It keeps my already injured hands from getting more hurt. Although I'd say that this'll last only a few more blows before giving away. Sides, were I come from, it's either use whatever could be a weapon or die."

"How confident are you in it?"

"Took out ten Vahki in less then ten minutes by myself. Then five with a bucket in like five minutes."

"Good, what with all this noise we're making, I suspect there's going to be a lot of them."

"Oh goody! This means twice the fun!" Alena said sarcastically. "Anyways… We might as well gain as much ground as we can. Cause we might be running soon. Sounds like those Vahki are poundin' that wall hard. And if another group comes, it won't be pretty."

* * *

Then, the two Matoran followed, who had both been ignored the entire time except when Alena shouted, "Ya'll idiots get yer butt's over if ya know what's good for ya!" Of course, anyone could tell they were moving reluctantly. But they still followed due to the two beings in front of them being their only hope of freedom from the Vahki behind them. After all, these two had definite power, considering one was a Toa and another took out a bunch of Vahki in a small room with a bucket.

Of course, Gaius couldn't help but say, "Nuparu's going to be very upset hearing so many of his Vahki were defeated. After all, she already took out a bunch of Vahki in that room and beforehand."

"Sounds fascinating." Tehutti said, although neither stated they were glad for it for once, seeing as how these things now wanted them due to who they got mixed up with. Nuparu's machines could be destroyed for all they cared now.

* * *

"What's so good about living in the dark?" Alena finally asked, after several hours of walking.

"Isn't it obvious?" Whenua stated, "Living in the dark provides a brand new opportunity for us. And it's all fascinating. Us Onu-Matoran have lived underground for so long, experiencing light hurts our eyes."

Looking around, she whistled, "Nuthin' _fascinating _about this place. My feline night vision that allows me to see everything just sees it alllllllll as dull cave walls. The bat Enmalian's might be fascinated with it, but not me… Then again, I AM feline. I prefer open plains or tall trees or buildings reaching hundreds of thousands of feet."

Feeling the Onu-Matoran's and Toa glaring on her back, she snickered slightly. "Show me the more fascinating parts! Like these… 'Exhibits' Gaius has so generously told me about." Alena said, with a slight hint of excitement in her voice. Something everyone else interpreted as not good. Especially Gaius.

"Are you sure you want to see rusty old exhibits from several thousand years ago…?" He questioned hesitantly, remembering full well their first conversation.

"Oh yeah!" Alena said an exaggerated amount of interest, "Seeing Rahi in status, doomed to a life of forever stillness, isn't that exciting?" Then started snickering at the Toa and Matoran. "Yeah, that's Rahi abuse right there." Then, turning around, she continued walking down the tunnel. "Oh yeah, how close are we to the light, Gaius?"

"Umm… I'd say that a few more turns up ahead and we'll be meeting up with the other Onu-Matoran." He said in reply. Alena cocked her head at him, "Meet up with the other Onu-Matoran? As in there's more of you that suspect the Turaga, or just some platform where you guys take care of thing?"

"A platform where we take care of things." Tehutti butted in, "Although I don't remember this area at all. Of course, I doubt any Onu-Matoran has ever been through the entire archives before."

"This place is huge, huh?" Alena said dully.

"Yeah, it expands over the entire Metru and the whole of Metru-Nui." Tehutti finished.

"Careful with the way you guys prop things up here. If things were to weaken down here, and the tunnels do expand under all of Metru-Nui, there'll be a heck of a mess both up there and down here. I'd say that you guys are extremely careful though. Since this city has an oldie feeling to it. So since it hasn't collapsed yet, I'd say ya'll are either lucky fools, or just extremely careful." Alena finished.

Then, twitching her ear to the tunnel they were following, Alena reported, "Sounds like we're almost there. Maybe… Half an hour left. Hour at the most if the midget's slow us down."

"Who's the midget's!" Tehutti demanded. "So what if your bigger then us! You're a different species after all!"

"Hmm… Toa originate from Matoran, but Toa are taller then them." Alena replied, "Toa's are basically Matoran, with everything a Matoran has in them except they have an addition or two. The main addition we've already seen."

"And how would you know this? It's unheard of for Matoran to turn into Toa." Gaius said curiously.

"Ain't it obvious?" Alena started, "I witnessed Whenua there turn into a Toa. Met him as a Matoran, Amber dragged me into a different room, along with Unity… When we went back in after sensing high amounts of energy, and strange scents, we were momentarily surprised. After all, how often do you almost witness a transformation like that?"

"I see." Gaius said with much interest.

"Also, the echoes we're making are getting much louder." Alena stated, hearing their echoes growing softer with each step. "So I'm guessing we're rather close to this place."

Finally, they were at the end of the corridor. Of course, Alena stopped everyone before entering it, peeking out first, to see how many Matoran were there. Seeing quite a few made her consider plans though.

"Guys, who here plans to stick with me?" Alena said, looking at the three others in her group. After hearing each of them say that they were planning to stick with her until they were at the Great Temple, she proceeded with telling them her plan.

"See that giant opening out there, where going through it leads to the sky? I plan to run over there, jump on the wall, and scale to freedom from these tunnels. Who's still with me?"

Hearing nothing but silence, she grinned. "Okay, Gaius hop on my back and we'll go climbing in a few seconds."

"Hey, wait." Gaius said, "Don't I have a say in this?"

"Yes. And who says I can't joke around? I mean, it's not like I'm one of those people who forces others to do things against their will." Alena replied with humor in her voice. "Sides, I prefer climbing without someone on my back. It's highly annoying." She finished.

"Phew." Gaius started, "For a second there I thought I'd have to follow you. That doesn't exactly sound pleasant. What with me holding desperately onto my back, also trembling with fear, and hanging onto an unknown creature with plenty of intelligence due to my life depending on it."

"Y'know somethin'?" Alena started, "That sounds… Very exciting. If that ever happens to me, I'll be sure to tell ya'll how exciting it was. Tis a shame I can climb quite literally anything due to the hardness of my claws. Describe it to me afterwards."

And without a warning, not only did she swing Gaius onto her back, but she promptly ran past groups of Matoran, ignoring their startled gasps and cries of "What is that?" and other things similar to it.

She then leaped out onto the balcony where ships floated to and onto the wall that started on both sides and ended somewhere close to two hundred feet high, enjoying the freedom of both fresh air and sunlight. Then, almost literally started running up the sharp ninety degree angle cliff.

Due to her full feline pedigree, this was more then an easy task for her though, despite not fully hardened claws. Her claws were still rather sharp due to her young age: They would not fully harden until she was at least five years old, or fifty human years. Whichever was preferred.

Feeling Gaius holding tightly onto her shoulders, she could faintly feel him shaking. Finally, she crawled over the ledge, allowing the midget to climb off her shoulders, and there she lay, panting from all the energy from the past few hours.

"Such strange creature…" Gaius started, then shook his head, breaking off from what he was going to say.

"Depends," Alena said, "Now I need to figure out what to do with you."

"But didn't you say that I'm your 'Responsibility'?" Gaius questioned.

"Yeah. But who said I knew what to do with you? 'Course, staying with me will obviously attract the bad things. And that means that ya'll have to learn minor fighting skills." Alena said, leaning up to a stretch, listening to her spine pop several times, and continuing until it was farther back then any other human could possibly reach.

"So, fish exist here right?" Alena questioned, her stomach finally growling, "If not, then I'll have to hurt someone. Bad. Turaga Dume's evil, so he can be the target."

Then, standing up, she walked off into the direction of the Great Temple, or at least where she thought it was. Just because her species was strong, smart, and had incredible instinct didn't mean they could navigate through unknown worlds- At least if they were entering their first world ever.

"You know where the Great Temple is, right?" Alena questioned, "If so, we'll be meeting up with my friends, and some more Toa there."

"More of your kind AND Toa?" Gaius said, quite startled, "This is turning out to be either the worst day of my life, or the best day of my life."

"Choose the first one. When underage Enmalians that are supposed to be training with their chosen trainer disappear, lots of trouble occurs. I can't think of one that hasn't had at least a severe gash in their bodies. Example."

Alena finally removed her bucket, hoping they were free of any more trouble. Then showing the Matoran the blood that ran from her fist from still-open wounds. "Think of wounds twenty times worse then this. And sometimes only their bodies are found." Alena grimaced, "Anyone who kills an Enmalian dies a severe death. My Mentor has shown me many photos of those little incidents. Sometimes absolutely nothing remains of them though. Not even blood."

"How do your people even succeed that?" Gaius questioned, "I mean, not even this 'blood' showing? If it's anything like the liquid flowing in our bodies, then wouldn't blood remain?"

Before walking off to where she suspected the Great Temple was, Alena said, "Even the parents of the killed child have no idea."

* * *

So, I have no idea how that ending turned out so gloomy. But this thing was TWELVE PAGES LONG. Be glad I was working on a super long one. ^^" I just wanted to get her out of trouble fast for some reason. ...Course, she IS my name-sake. . .

Let's hope I'm not favoring her for that. D= But yes, I think ya'll will have noticed a different in how Alena and Amber fight though. Course, I didn't exactly give Amber much of a fighting scene. D= But Alena's currently better then her at it. Of course, she is much weaker then Amber though. After all, she doesn't go through half of her first year *Referring to Enmalian years* strengenthing. Course, her worlds more dangerous, but due to her being a doctor, her fighting skills were merely refined. In the future, Amber will be stronger and a much better fighter then her too.

Also, incase anyone's interested, I'm working on a separate story of theirs. Course, there'll be more original characters. If you wanna read that story, go to DeviantArt. =3 Type in 'Enmalian' in the search key, and you SHOULD get the very few chapters I have on there.

That was JUST INCASE, anyone is curious. =P After all, I dunno how many of ya'll are interested in their little world. x3 The fun part for me is I have no other storyliine to follow. So I get my own style. =3


	8. Another Fight

Erm... Most excuses would be "I didn't have enough time!" However, my excuse is "I had enough time, but procrastinated!" But I think my updating improved this time, right? I'll let ya'll get straight to the story this time. Quick note though. I switch several times between views. Mostly in this order: Unity; Amber; Alena. I made little notes in it, but just to clear up confusion. Anyways... Story time!

Chapter 8

Unity slightly lifted her nose to the air, testing it for Alena's scent. _She should be here by now, _She thought, _After all, Nuju's here. And he says he left with her, but lost her somewhere along the way._

It had taken all her willpower for her to convince Amber to _not _storm out there when Nuju came back, with a Matoran but no Alena.

That's when she had faintly scented the Enmalian. Turning her head eagerly, she was both disappointed, and surprised, to see Whenua and one of the needed Matoran's here, but with no Alena either. What picked her curiosity even more was that _he _carriedher scent.

Immediately storming up to him, was Amber. She was angrily demanding as to where Alena had gone. Of course, after a brief conversation with him, it revealed that he had last seen her both in the Archives, and exiting them. But never entering them.

Unity frowned, whilst Alena liked dark, small places, she was never a fan of dark, huge places. He had described her as 'slightly jumpy'. She had even more then obviously stated she preferred trees and open plains compared to the underground tunnels.

After some time of speculation, she finally jumped up again, with Amber soon following. This time, Alena's scent was much, much stronger then it was when Whenua and Tehutti had come by. Although it was accompanied by a different Matoran, apparently the one that the two had described, that Alena had 'forcibly taken on her back, and ran towards the exit at a speed much faster then they could have imagined.'

Grinning, her sense of smell told her the Matoran wasn't on her, so it was safe to pounce her. Running on all fours, she gathered up her leg muscles in a brief instant and pounced. Then felt the fur on her friend-since-birth collide with her fur. Then her body knocking into hers. And finally, Alena's surprise as it came out as a roar.

All this occurred in an instant.

Unity giggled, a strange, low bark of hers. Of course, all their sounds that were attempts at being similar to humans laughs, or anything else they do ended up sounding like the animal they were replicated after. It was as natural to them, as it was as natural to any humans to just… Laugh the way they do. Of course, her kind has interacted with humans enough so that it was normal to them the way they also sounded. It wouldn't be for humans unless they actively knew Enmalians still exist.

"Unity!" Alena said with indignity, "You Canines… Always lookin' to pounce the Feline. Kershizzlenit! If I had cat nip for every time that happened, I'd be rollin' in it!"

Unity then did her loud barking laugh. "Yes, but you don't get your cat nip, do you?"

"Guess not." Alena said, feinting a disappointed look. However, her eyes and tone of voice gave her away. Unity could easily see that in her canine eyes. "So, exactly what happened? And why where you two late?" That's when she turned her head to the Onu-Matoran, a Matoran black from head to toe, even his mask was black. She was quite unfamiliar with masks though, so she couldn't identify what type of mask he was wearing.

Grinning, she held her hand out to him to shake his hand. "So, who was the guide here? Or did Alena loose her way again?"

"Oh noo…" Alena said sarcastically, "As it turns out, neither of us knew the way. So I had to have this little guy constantly asking other Matoran. We both obviously knew the temple was in Ga-Metru though. Unfortunately though, we can't have this little guy, Gaius, be our guide. Else we'll get really lost."

At the end of this, Unity was barely holding in her laughter, "Couldn't you just listen and hear us? And while your sense of smell isn't as good as a canines, you could have tried to scent our smells. You know what we all smell like."

"I already tried. Turns out we were nowhere near anyone's scent, except Whenua. And since I'm not that much of a fan of caves… I didn't really entertain the notion of going back in. And my ability to hear for miles isn't totally developed yet. So I couldn't really hear anyone."

"I see. In other words, both of you got totally lost?" Unity said, with a teasing voice.

"Hey!" Alena replied, but stopped mid-sentence. "Actually…" She started replying. "We were… Lost in a city!"

Unity burst out laughing. "Well, at least your sense of strange humor is back." She finished. Then slapped her Enmalian friends back with a force most human skeletons couldn't stand. All Alena did was gasp at the surprise thump on her back. Their bodies were famous for being dense enough to make the strength of their animal counterpart. Especially the bones. Many times harder, and yet more flexible, then the human skeleton. Their skeletons were built to withstand the strength of other Enmalians, which caused their bones to be especially strong.

The Canine Enmalian then held up a staff of sorts. "Alena. Amber told me to make this for you. She was… Rather pissed at how you went missing. Now she wants to ensure your skills are good."

The Enmalian then noticed Alena was reaching for it with her right hand, despite the fact her left hand was her main. She grabbed the staff away. "What happened to your left hand Alena?" She inquired, "You can always disguise your injuries well, which is why I can almost never smell your wounds unless I'm near you when it recently happened."

She almost grinned at Alena's pouting face. Almost. She kept the staff at just over arms length away from the feline. Unity then frowned as Alena showed her her injured hand. As Unity's hand was just barely brushing against her friends hand, she barely noticed the felines grimace of pain.

That's when she grabbed the hand right where the wounds ended, to examine them. "Amber!" Unity called over her shoulder. "You should see this."

The canine and feline hybrid Enmalian she called to turned her head fast. Then was over there faster then most eyes could trace. "What happened to your hand Alena!" She demanded.

"What can I say, besides the fact that Vahki scraps are harder then I originally thought?" Alena said. Then attempted to pull her hand away from the two as Unity held her hand, and Amber proceeded to lick her wounds, reopening several of them. Obviously, Unity was holding the full breed feline Enmalians hand tightly enough so that her hand could barely twitch, so that the danger of Alena's claws scratching Amber lessened.

Finally, after some ten minutes of the odd arrangement, Unity let go of Alena's hand, which instantly came to rest at her chest level. Amber was slightly licking and spitting blood out.

As Unity saw Alena examine her hand, to see how well Amber had licked her wounds clean, and cover it with a thin layer of her saliva, just to provide an extra layering of protection. She looked up, very satisfied, looking very glad she had taught the two of them how to turn their own saliva into a bandage that would work better then humans.

Unity slightly snickered, it was strange, how their saliva had healing properties for humans, but merely worked as extra strength bandages for them. Of course, it's rather… Difficult applying the 'bandage' to their own kind, merely because of how sensitive they could be to certain types of pain, and their claws.

The subject of their claws, though, is because of how hard they are. Obviously, it isn't easy opening up portals to allow them to traverse dimensions, which is why Enmalians usually have to be trained to open them. Then there's the fact that their claws are the only thing that can open a portal with ease, and still not be destroyed, or at the least, devastated.

Which is a reason as to why they believe their claws to be the hardest substance in all the known and unknown dimensions. Not only can they cut through virtually anything without damage, but also open portals without shattering.

Once Alena thoroughly examined her hand dressings, she looked up at Amber. "Guess I can take the staff now." She said, a grin on her face. Unity sighed. Alena always ignored the pain and worked through it.

Amber smirked, and Unity tossed Alena the staff she had made. A nice, sturdy staff, with both ends pointed to deadly points. The rest of it was decorated with grooves following the curve of the staff, allowing a better grip on it.

"Where'd you find metal?" Alena asked Unity curiously. "And you made this with your own hands right?"

"Hmm? I scavenged some in Po-Metru." Unity started, "The pieces were abandoned and begging to be molded. Amber let me borrow her gloves to do a little wielding too."

Unity stared curiously as Amber and Alena got into fighting positions. Their battles were always rather intense, along with interesting.

*Ambers P. o. V. I guess.*

Amber smirked. Alena looked ready for battle. She readied her claws, and crouched down onto the half stone pillar she was sitting on, one hand on her knee, the other faintly touching the stone of the pillar, easily scraping it along the stone and forming claw marks on it.

She saw Alena grip the staff with both hands, and get into a fighting position, with the staff faintly pointed at Amber, and yet still slightly touching the ground. Their first face-off in here. Showing her fangs to attempt to intimidate the temporary enemy, her foe mimicked her. Both were baring fangs now.

That's when she saw Alena cock her head to the left, then to the right. She instantly knew. She was analyzing both the situation, and her opponent. Plenty of places to jump onto and off of, one enemy that is faster and stronger then her. But hopefully not as quick-witted.

Amber saw Alena dash off to the right, after feinting to the left. Unfortunately for Alena, Amber followed her split second movement to the right. Both clashed as Amber purposely grabbed her staff, both hands touching the middle of it, while Alena's arms were spread to both ends of it.

Alena kept Amber at her best arms length as possible, as Amber was trying to climb over the staff, all the while snapping in the feline Enmalian's face as much as possible. However, Amber had put merely one foot on the staff, but was thrown off it as Alena swung the staff to her left.

Amber silently snickered. Her skills were definitely improving. After all, by that point, Amber would have been over the staff, and both of them would have been fighting hand to hand combat due to Alena having lost use, and grip, on her chosen weapon. However, instead of landing on the ground in a ball of fur and limbs, she landed on her legs and arms, claws digging trails into the stone.

Alena was still gripping the staff, in her fiercest position. Teeth bared, claws at the ready, and staff pointed dangerously at Amber.

The felines skills were unusually good this time. Normally by now she would have lost.

"I see the Vahki helped… 'Train' you a bit." Amber stated.

Alena smiled a toothy smile. "Of course. Although having mock battles with a certain Canine and Feline hybrid Enmalian helps with fighting… I'm fairly certain we both know this."

Amber then addressed Unity, without taking her eyes off Alena. "Hope you won't mind repairing the staff Unity. After all, I'm about to use my five human years worth of strengthening to beat this little full fledged Feline down." She said all this with a grin of entertainment on her face.

That's when Amber started running. Fast. She could definitely see Alena's confusion on her face, as the hybrids scent went over the whole surrounding area, and was moving to fast for her to hear her properly.

Then she made her first move. One move sent the staff flying from her hands. Then she made her second move. Alena was knocked to the ground by a flying kick from the back. Amber made her third, and last, move. She jumped the feline while she was on her back, and gripped the fur around her neck tightly.

The feline in front of her froze. She could slightly move, but only slightly. "Give up?" Amber asked through her mouths grip on the others fur.

"Yes." Alena said, albeit with a determination that said she would never give up on attempting to beat Amber.

She then released the feline. "Good. I believe we're both improving." Amber stated. "Especially since I haven't run that fast for such a long amount of time."

As Amber got up and off Alena, Alena too got up. Sniffing the area, Amber then noticed all the Toa and their Matoran had gathered together to watch the fight.

"So, what did you guys think of our little sparing?" Amber inquired curiously.

She could definitely tell the others were more then… A little amazed. Of course, exactly how often did someone show off unusually fast speed? Almost never. So of course people would be amazed at the speed at which Amber had moved.

Cocking her head curiously to them, she heard Matau start. "That was some everquick moves. Where did you girls learn to fight?" She heard him say excited. More excited then she wanted. "Well… You're girls, right?"

"Well, obviously we are." Alena started. "We sound like them right? If so, then yes."

"Well, I knew they were girls from the start," Onewa angrily said, "Mostly because of how Unity over there annoyed me half to death."

Unity perked up at her name. "I didn't annoy you half to death," She started, "I annoyed you to death, and beyond. I think the singing really irked your nerves though."

*Alena's P.o.V. I guess*

Alena slowly blinked. "Unity, exactly what song DID you sing?"

Unity grinned, "Oh… You know, those songs I usually sing to annoy you two. Back before we went to three different villages."

"Oh, so you sang 'This Is The Song That Never Ends'?" Alena questioned, "You know, that song humans made up?"

"Why, yes I did." Unity said proudly. "That song, sung enough times, an irk anyone. Even the ever-patient Amber over there." She said, pointing a thumb behind her back to indicate Amber was there.

Amber's ear twitched slightly. "You know full well that I never once twitched at that song, or was irritable about it."

"Oh Amber," Unity said, "You should know full well that you twitched during one of my bouts. The longest lasting one yet. A full two hours."

Alena twitched. Listening to that sort of song for a whole one hundred and twenty minutes fully was worse then being in a cave full of skunks. And being in a cave full of skunks has happened to her before.

If there was one around, she would have jumped right in. Even if her nose was rather sensitive to the smell. A gas mask specially made by them kept the smell away. So that still would make the skunk experience better.

That's when Alena noticed Unity's face twitch. Only, not from a horrible memory. It was a twitch that indicated she was laughing. Alena sighed, more then ready to fight her should she mention it.

Readying her new weapon, Alena pointed it at Unity, knowing exactly which memory it was. She told it enough times to the other Enmalian cubs and adults enough so that it might as well be a dimension-wide story.

She had smelled for months after that though. So obviously even if Unity hadn't done it, the story would still be village-wide. After all, exactly how many feline Enmalians are crazy enough to actually jump into a cave full of skunks just to escape a song?

Obviously, Alena was. Although it wasn't on purpose. She just didn't bother to check to see what had moved in there during the past few months she hadn't visited the cave. Who would have thought that a pregnant skunk mother had moved there not even a full moon ago?

Then, finally turning her attention to the Toa, Alena asked, "So, how do we gather the disks?"

The other Toa looked surprised, especially at how at least one of them chose to not pretend they didn't exist, especially since they were in already deep conversation.

"Our main plan," Vakama started, "Is to split up into groups of two Toa, each with a Matoran from their Metru. Although… None of us are sure as to exactly how you three, well, four including the Matoran, plan to go about."

Alena turned her ears to Amber, who had spoken up, "We'll be here for a little bit to exchange our little discoveries. However, we will make plans and then head out to execute them. None of us will know for sure yet, though."

"I know what my plan will be." Alena mumbles under her breathe, soft enough only Amber and Unity could hear it. "To spy on this places leader."

They showed no indication of hearing her though, since this was a private matter between the three of them. Or four. The seventh Matoran was officially in their group. Especially since none of the Toa have a desperate need for him.

Well, not unless Tehutti just overly enjoyed talking about the Archives with Gaius. And the strange 'new' species. She grinned, obviously, that was Alena and the other two.

"So, are you Toa and Matoran leaving now?" Alena turned her head back to the group.

"Yes, it'd be best if we get the disks as soon as possible." Vakama said, with a determined look on his face.

Yes well, I'll just list my few pathetic excuses now. I'm working on two other stories. And so that I don't show favoritism to one of my stories, I came up with a little idea. I'm goin' in a pattern in writing them. First, it's 'Lost In A City', then it's 'Enmalian Universe', and finally, 'Feline Ways'. And sorry for the no warning that this chapter ended. The darn thing won't let me put little dashes up to indicate it's ended. D=

Then there's school. Heck, I'm running a little behind in math. D= But on a side note: I got third place in the 3200 meters. =D Nother reason this story wasn't updated yesterday. I get shiny metal though. 3

Also, we have kittens. I'm obsessing over taking photos of them. . . Nother reason this story and my others aren't getting updated as often. However, Track is ending, so I might be able to update a wee bit more often. =D

Then, there's the fact I'm thinkin' of updating previous chapters. I'm sorta thinking I'm improving a little bit at a time in writing. So I might do a little bit of updating. Especially the first chapter. - Then maybe a few other chapters. - And sorry near the end of this one seems a little bit goofy. I'd had soda two days ago. And I had been reading a comedy on this place. Then after I got that bit o' energy out of my system, there's the fact I ran out of ideas on how to end this chapter. So yes, it's probably not my best one. However, you finally got to see how two Enmalian's fight. :P So that's a plus, right? :P

Also, due to the apparent fact I go a little bit into describing the more... violent and sorta bloody parts of fights, (Fortunately, I guess, the fight in this chapter has no blood) should I turn this into a Rated T fiction? Might be a good idea since there's gonna be more then just two fights and a few injuries. But... I'll mull that over. It might become one though, the next time I write about a fight in this. However, I definitely plan to go through these chapters and update them a little. Not all of them or major updates, mind you. But, I will be curtious enough to let ya'll know I've updated one of the previous chapters when I add in a new one. :P

Also, this story I'm writing hit a milestone. 50 pages in my word document. =D Whilst that's not major, it's either my second longest or longest story yet. The other one though, was written on an old, very horrible comp which deleted the story because I wasn't working on it for months. And while it was my first story, therefore still not very good, it was my FIRST STORY! D= Ever since that time, *And it was virus ridden* I've wanted to put an axe into it. Although, once this story hits 60 pages, it'll officially be my longest story ever.

. . 'Scuse me while I stop ranting and let ya'll get on with your lives....

Got'cha. One last thing: Review. I want one bad. D= It might... 'Encourage' me to update a wee bit faster... . . What with the fact I procrastinate AND technically have more then enough time to get crackin' on this story and others. Also, wanna know what I got when my Word Document 'used' to tell me Tehutti was spelled wrong? One alternate word was Tofutti. XD


	9. The Chase And Vengence

Ehhh... SORRY! DX Baaad author! D= It's been more then 'just a while' since I updated this thing. - Like, almost 3 months. D= Even for me, that was a heck of a long time to update. ^^' Anyway, sorry this chapters so short. I wanted to do more, but I felt you guys waited enough. =P And sides, I might not feel like working on this thing for another week once high school starts up, and college ends. - But lets hope there's no massive delay! ...Well, there will be. But hopefully never longer then three months. XP

Aw well. Some stories I read on this site were abandoned, despite being seriously good. T-T So that makes the 3 month thing better! HAH! =P

* * *

Chapter 9

The Dog Enmalian sighed. Heavily sighed. Looking at the stern appearance of the Canine and Feline hybrid in front of her, the brown and black stripes of which were bent in array to her facial expressions, and the fur around her body slightly puffed up in irritation, giving her the harmless appearance of a slightly overweight person who could do no harm.

Shaking her head repeatedly, all the while feeling the disappointment at not being allowed to follow Alena to the Coliseum, she silently slunk over to the green Toa and blue Toa, tail dropping to the point of hitting the ground, ears folded down to show humiliation.

Then, upon seeing the green Toa put his Air Slicer's down, felt a tingle of wanting to do something wrong. Perking up instantly, she sent one eye over to Amber, knowing full well that, while she wasn't staring at Unity directly, she was keeping an eye on her through scent, and sound.

One whisker twitched on her face, although she showed no signs of being aware of the change over Unity. Looking at the rest of the Toa, she was aware all their eyes were on her, except Amber and Alena, so obviously she was being watched.

The whole group had seen Alena and Amber's fight. So they had a decent idea of what their species was like in fighting. Although they had no idea of Unity's strength. While she had much more powerful blows compared to Alena and Amber, she was not nearly as graceful as either of them.

Jumping up, she walked on all fours to the Matoran, although specifically two Onu-Matoran. Looking at them, she twirled around in a fast manner, her claws skittering across the ground, her tail whacking them in the faces.

Ignoring the grunts of two Onu-Matoran being knocked to the floor, she skittered over to where Matau's Air Slicer's were, picking one up through her teeth. Lifting it up, she looked at the green Toa with excited eyes, well-aware that Amber and Alena were well aware of her antics.

Barking with the weapon between her teeth, she ran away, with a shocked Toa behind her.

The Toa looked at the other two, one of which was heavily laughing on the ground, and the other, a small look of irritation on her face, which was mostly consumed with laughter too.

"You better catch her Matau." Alena said, laying down all the way on the floor, lifting her head to give herself an upside-down view of the air Toa, ears disappearing underneath the floor as she lifted her chin higher up. "She just told you that if you don't catch her soon, you'll never find that remaining piece of your weaponry.

"But…" Matau started, "Can't you two help-save me? After all, you two do know-well her better then me!"

"Nope." Amber said, "If we chase her with you, she'll be in a bad mood all week. She likes starting chase." At this point, she stuck her tongue out at him, "Sides, me and Alena like watching the pain of those who have to chase her."

Then turned back to do whatever it had been that she was doing. Matau, who had been staring at the feline and canine dog hybrid, felt his hopes dash as soon as she had said the first sentence.

However, that lasted a moment, as he had immediately straightened his posture, and looked at the Enmalians, saying, "Well! If neither of you will help-assist me, then I'll have to help-assist myself then!"

He said this in a defiant manner, his active spirit kicking in, and immediately used his air powers to search for the mischievous dog-Enmalian, spurred on to go faster due to his wind-powers carrying him onwards, ignorant of the other two Enmalians.

Alena, who had been sitting on the floor, in the same position as before the incident, let her ears whirr around the room, testing out the different sounds, locating the ice Toa in an instant.

Moving her head to the left, she gave herself a full view of the Toa, her next unsuspecting victim. Grinning, her sharply pointed teeth were revealed fully, showing that her bite could be fierce. Silently getting up from the floor, she looked in the direction Unity had gone, and considered the vengeance she had planned for the ice Toa.

Then, she got down on all four, and padded silently towards the ice Toa, her speed slowly increasing to a run. Eventually, her head connected with Nujus' back, sending him flying face-first towards the ground. Flipping over the Toa, as he let out a startled yelp, she landed on her legs, in a neat fashion, then turned around to face the toppled Toa.

"There's more where that came from." She looked at him, showing off a toothy grin. "Next time, make sure I'm there before all this trouble starts. Or else you'll get somethin' worse then a head butt."

At this point, she stuck her tongue out at him, not caring if it were childish or not. Then turned her back on him, easily leaping several dozen feet above the group, to latch her claws onto a pillar. Upon reaching the top, she curled up in the common feline ball, pretending to fall asleep, instead, letting her ears listen hard, to try and locate where Unity had gone.

* * *

Well, Alena finally got her vengence. ^^ And she might get some more of it. =P

And will Matau ever get his air katana back? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPPY. =D

And, I concentraited more on the Toa Metru this time, right? XP I realized in the last chappy I wasn't concentraiting on them as much as I should, and was giving my new characters all the spotlight. T-T So I decided to give them some more time... While torturing them at the same time! =D


	10. Unity Vs Matau

There! I worked so hard on the last few pages of this thing today! I had absolutely nothing to do otherwise. ^^ I mean, at least not counting the Bible 201 *Which I was very bored at, due to my extremely poor attention span. Something I was eternally cursing at during the 4 hour lesson. . .* and chores *Which still need to be completed. ^^"*

Anyways. Enjoy this chapter! I mixed battle and humor into it. And a little bit more Toa. I've been trying to involve the 6 main characters into this thing more often then their envolvement already. ^^'

* * *

Chapter 10

The dog-Enmalian could be seen racing through the halls of the Temple, holding a katana in her mouth, running on all four limbs. She was panting heavily through her nose so that she didn't dislodge the katana from her jaws. Behind her was a green Toa running as fast as he could in a desperate attempt to retrieve his weapon.

Seeing a turn in the hallway ahead, she stopped, allowing her momentum to slide her across the floor. This let her pretend that her claws were making her skitter across the floor, so that a clicking sound could be heard. Coming to the corner, she instantly sunk her claws into the ground, allowing them to slide in deep enough to stop her momentum. Then, just as she was about to feel the force of her nails in the ground, and her body still going sideways, she sprung forward, allowing herself to re-catch her momentum.

Her move had allowed the air Toa to catch up quickly, although just as he was about to grab her, she had sprung from her trap, and into the hallway. This startled the Toa, allowing him to lose his momentum and slam into the wall that Unity had succeeded in avoiding. Dog ears let the excited female know that her newest victim had been slammed into the wall.

Unity paused, turning around to watch her dazed victim stumble around in a confused manner. Holding in her snickering, she reached up with her hand to grab the handle of Matau's air katana, pulling it out of her mouth and slide the sharp point of it into the ground.

"Matau," She called out in a pretend superiority, "Face it. You'll never catch me. Want to give up now or let this confrontation continue and end horribly? Either way, it's a lose-lose situation for you."

The being in front of her shook his head, clearing it of the dizziness, and glared at the laughing creature in front of him. "Never dog-friend. This confrontation-battle will continue-ever until I catch-grab you. Don't let it mind-slip that I am a Toa-hero!"

Unity had walked over to one of the pillars behind her, and leaned on it in a casual manner. Having crossed her arms over her chest, she looked at Matau, and, in a teasing manner, said, "What's being a Toa-hero got to do with catching a dog-Enmalian that stole your weapon?"

"Everything!" He replied in an exasperated manner, "With my new-neat power-strength, I can do-perform anything!"

"Not everything." Unity replied, her tone changing to make it seem as if she were rebuking a child. "You have new powers. But just because of that, it doesn't mean your all-powerful. You see the battle back there? You wouldn't have lasted two minutes with either of them, and even myself."

"And yet-present," Matau said, "Your saying all this without having tested _my _powers!"

"True." Unity replied, her tone changing to a more playful manner, "You have powers. So that makes it more likely for you to stand a chance against my species. It's just you have very… Poor training. Course, very few people gain powers and are masters at them almost immediately."

Tipping her head to the side, Unity continued, "Anyways. A battle to see who is currently superior to the other? Loser has to admit to their group they lost." She crouched to all fours in the attack position of her Enmalian sub-species.

"Winner gets to antagonize the other whenever they want." Unity finished, starting to circle Matau in the manner of two dogs about to attack. Baring her teeth, white and long, not as sharp as a feline-Enmalians, but still deadly, and growled.

She enjoyed Matau's reaction to her sudden, but feigned, fierceness, and noticed momentary hesitation in both his stance and smell. It passed, but the slowly weakening scent that had held his hesitation lingered, like all scents do, whether they had been their briefly or long periods.

"Ready to battle?" Unity asked Matau again, curious as to whether he will accept or not after seeing her fighting stance. Instead of showing hesitation, he got into his own fighting stance, a poorly conceived one. His weapons were held at awkward angles, while his legs were in a stance that appeared to be fairly good.

Unity snickered, confusing the Toa. She then went back down on her hands and feet, and circled Matau with her teeth bared once again, the same fierce growl from earlier erupting.

"Ha! None-any of your scare-tactic maneuvers will work-succeed on me!" The Toa of Air boasted, commanding the air around him to blow Unity into a wall.

The dog-Enmalian dodged the attack with ease, running at a pace that is a faster speed then what the fastest could run at.

"Interesting attack," She drawled, allowing her manner of talk to enrage the Toa, "Shame. If your target had been the wall behind me, you would have had a great hit. Aw well! If anyone asks, you were aiming towards the wall."

She had run behind him, staying well over a hundred feet away from him. She was taunting him at this point, her actions telling him that he had no way to hit her. Feeling the air currents moving along her fur, she used the thousands of tiny particles to let her catch the current in which Matau's next attack was coming from, feeling it sweeping at her from behind.

Running forward, she jumped over her combatant, doing several mid-air spins in a curled circle over him, before unfolding herself last minute to land on her feet, the blow of the floor not going through her as neatly as it would have had she been a feline-Enmalian. Grinning, she felt no envy towards the half-feline Enmalian, and the full fledged feline Enmalian as some others would, knowing full well that no matter the breed of Enmalian, every one of the thousands of sub-species Enmalians had their own personal faults.

Turning around as soon as she had landed, she grabbed the handle of one of the Air Toa's blades easily.

"That the best you can do?" She taunted, watching him run towards her, letting his wind powers spur him on faster, making him almost as fast as she did while running her more controlled pace.

Stepping to the side just barely enough, right before Matau collided with her, she felt his wind powers brush her fur roughly, from the way it was so uncontrolled.

Deciding to end the battle, she tackled him just as he stopped running, to turn around and do another offensive move. Just as she was about to body-tackle him, she felt the wind currents around him strengthen, and blow her to the right side of him, knocking her to the ground, letting her skid on the floor a small ways away.

Looking at the newly made Toa in front of him, she grinned a toothy grin. "Good move. Are you finally taking advantage of the gifts that were bestowed on you? Your first few attacks were poorly conceived, so this one is a definite surprised, however small it might be." She said, watching the Air Toa turn towards her, a large grin on his face.

"Oh no." He started, "It was a stroke of great-large luck-good."

His victory was short-lived though, as the Enmalian that had been laying on the ground less then fifty feet away from him had gotten to her feet, and pounced him faster then the pace at when she had started using beforehand.

As the pair stopped skidding, they both continued the fight, however short the second fight had lasted. Unity had Matau face-first on the ground, his leg unable to move, and both his arms pinned behind him.

"Ready to admit defeat?" She questioned her newly made friend under her, whom she had just battled into 'submission'. He struggled for several minutes, before sighing and planting his chin onto the ground.

"I give up." He said stubbornly.

Unity grinned in satisfaction. "Guess what?"

The Air Toa looked at her stubbornly. "What-matter?"

"You said your first sentence that had no two words combined into the same words! 'I give up.'" Unity imitated, in the same tone that Matau had used when he said it. "Oh, and you have to tell your group that you lost. Especially Nokama. I've seen the way you've been peeking looks at her and showing off."

The Toa looked up at her in a startled manner, "You know-suspect?"

"Of course." Unity said happily. "Alena and Amber know too!"

The Air Toa plunked his chin onto the ground even harder then before. "Oh ever-no…"

* * *

There! Hope you like my chute-speak! =P It was HARD doing it! D= So you should like it! =P I remember having someone on Skype read a sentence of the chutespeak, and demanded to know from him if that made him want to read it. It's been a while since then, but I'm pretty sure he did say that it kinda made him want to read the story. XP

Also. I'm curious about one thing. Who can guess where the word 'Enmalian' originated from? You can't look it up cause I made it up! =P It's ironic though. I've had lots of people try and guess it, and none of them have ever guessed correctly. Hint: Play with the wording in the name. Maybe leave out 1 or 2 letters. It's a word so common, that if anyone decides to play this game, and they don't correctly guess, will be smacking their heads in irritation at the answer!

I love the game. ^_^


	11. Exploring

This chappy was so frustrating, and yet so fun! Frustraiting, cause - Wait, I won't spoil that for ya. =P Anyways, I decided to change this fic's rating to T, just cause of the earlier battles. ^^ The only reason I waited so GOSH DARN LONG is because: 1) I was to lazy to bother. 2) Instead of updating the fic without putting up any chappies doesn't sound very fun! D:

Also! *Stammers to remember your name* Light something... *Looks up in reviews* Aha! Inthelight! Sorry I forgot your name. ^^' Anyways, you did something that no one else has ever done before! Successfully guessed the word of origin of Enmalian! It's Animal! I just ADORE stumping people with my making up words! ^_^ I almost stumped ya, but ya got it last minute. =P

* * *

Chapter 11

"There!" Unity said happily, "Aren't you glad that you told everyone on your team how you lost miserably to a girl?"

She looked at Matau, her smile in a large grin, showing off her canine teeth. Doing several cartwheels, she found herself back at the side of her two original friends, Alena and Amber. "Time for you guys to head off!" She called to them, eagerness in her voice. "And Onewa! The torture will never end for you! You can't get off that easily!" She addressed Onewa, her voice alone indicating that she would never leave him alone.

Once the Toa were gone, Alena turned to her. "Did he do something to irk you?"

Unity smiled at Alena, and replied, "Nope. Remember? I love irritating everyone!"

Alena nodded her head, turning her head back to Amber, who was perched on one of the higher platforms in the Temples area, looking out the window, crouching to avoid being seen. "Any plans on what to do?"

Amber turned her gaze to Alena, and grinned. "Well of course. You get to infiltrate the Turaga's coliseum. Unity, your creative, right?"

She let Unity nod happily, "Examine the Vahki. Infiltrate one of their Hives, and see what you can do to knock it out. It'd be nice to have less enemies to worry about. As for me…"

Amber looked back out of the window, grinning. "While Alena explores the Coliseum, I'll be talking to Turaga Dume."

Alena crawled on her hands and feet, stealthily towards the coliseum. She was grinning, glad to finally exert some more of her skills. Despite being a feline training to become a medicine-Enmalian, any one of her kind adored using their skills to their maximum capability, and also getting into fights.

She was right behind Amber, who was leading the way, cautiously looking in front as they moved from one hiding spot to another, quickly finding their way across the area. Alena paused, watching Amber twitch the tip of her tail back and forth, a sign of caution.

They both paused, watching the steps of Vahki walk past their hiding place, unknowingly passing them up. Alena grinned, whispering softly enough that only Ambers ears could pick up her voice.

"This is too easy."

"Don't get to cocky. Remember what happens in fights. You can start causing ruckus in the Coliseum once your inside. Distract all the Vahki and Matoran, so that I can talk to Dume in private."

Alena nodded. Turning her gaze back towards the Coliseum, she saw a large gateway open, letting something in. "Think we can get in without them noticing from here?"

She saw Amber look up ahead, nodding her head. "I can, but can you ensure your body doesn't stiffen up?"

"Long as I don't run nearly as fast as you." Alena replied, both of them whispering just loud enough to hear the other.

Keeping her eyes up, she saw Ambers form stiffen, then turn translucent. Then, a gust of wind blew by, destroying the quickly fading image of where Amber had originally been. Grinning, she crawled up to where she had originally been, knowing that Amber had run inside fast enough, and was well away from the entrance.

Picking herself off the ground, she waited for an opening to appear, that was just enough for her to dash through the entrance too. Several minutes later, she saw her opening, and ran through the entrance too, going fast enough to avoid notice, but slow enough her body didn't stiffen from the intense running.

Alena got through without error, and spotted Amber, sitting up above one of the many little platforms used to hold items. Seeing Amber wave at her to come up, Alena jumped from the ground, to the miniature platform, covering the hundred foot distance with ease.

Crouching next to Amber, Alena saw her take a claw out, and carve a message into the stone slowly, making no noise as the claw silently cut through steel with ease. Looking over Ambers shoulder to read the message, Alena grinned.

'_We split up here. Make sure to cause plenty of mayhem once I've reached Turaga Dume.'_

Alena put her own claw on the steel, and made her own message. '_Will do. I'll explore till you get to him. Just give some sort of signal to tell me you found him.'_

Amber read the message, frowning, then wrote her own message onto the steel again. '_Won't your hearing be enough?'_

'_Yes, but isn't it more fun to just give a signal?' _Alena wrote, giving Amber a mischievous grin.

Sighing, Amber nodded her head, then jumped off the platform faster then the normal eye could follow, her image a blur that would make only the most well-trained of eyes look back. Alena followed, after giving Amber a ten-second head start, with a speed close to the Hybrids speed.

Racing down the hallways, Alena saw an occasional video camera, but ignored them. She knew that, even if they succeeded in capturing her image, by the time whoever catches one to their plan finds out, the plan will have been long done and over with. Grinning silently to herself, she took a turn that, through instinct and feel, she knew would take her even deeper into the Coliseum. Seeing a door at the end of the hall, and Vahki coming out, she ran slightly faster, jumping over the squad and through the high doorway with ease.

Once her feet connected with the ground, she ran towards one of the many stacks, hiding behind it until the doors were shut. Hearing the door shut, Alena looked around for the tiny blue lights that were video cameras. Seeing none, she jumped to the ground, and pulled one of the many pods out.

"How strange," Alena mumbled to herself, "It's Matoran-sized." Finding a latch in the system that allowed her to open it, she pulled it open, peering inside, its innards becoming sharper as the small glass door in front of it came away. Frowning, she noticed the way the pod was shaped, as if to accommodate a real Matoran, and to give him or her more comfort.

However, before she had more time to think, an alarm sounded. Her head instantly looking towards the exit, she saw it open, as an angry horde of Vahki appeared, each of them armed with their usual staffs. Alena jumped away from the pod, the pair of gloves that Amber always wore on her hands.

"Careful Vahki," Alena started, confidence ringing in her voice, "Or else you will end up as melted shrapnel. Trust me. Vahki shrapnel doesn't look as pretty as one might think."

Getting into a fighting position, Alena willed her gloves to increase to an intense heat, the inner layer of the gloves cooling down to protect her hands from the searing heat. Baring teeth, Alena waited there, feeling the stone where her hands rested heat up, and slowly melt. The Vahki had stopped their advance, and were aiming their staffs at her.

Waiting carefully, Alena quickly did a headcount of the enemy line. Her smile turned into a frown as she noted how there were at least fifty Vahki down there. Aiming their staffs at her, Alena waited until the moment she heard the staffs shooting their elemental powers at her. Within seconds, the first row of ten Vahki feel uselessly to the ground, their necks having been melted, and their mechanical heads hitting the floor with an eerie clatter.

The rest of the Vahki looked around, their movements appearing to make them seem panicked. However, their mechanical minds were truly searching for their target, with a cold, calculating eye. Alena looked down at them, before attracting their attention. "Up here!" She yelled.

The first ten Vahki to look her way had their bodies cut off from their waists, mechanical parts searing hot from being cut with an intense heat. Alena heard wiring sizzle as it was quickly disconnected from its counterpart, hot also, from use and gloves increasing their temperature, with the heat of the gloves sent to slice through their bodies with ease. Alena was on the other side, once again yelling for their attention. This time, she let the Vahki attack, dodging their attacks with ease.

Jumping to the floor, she raced out of the room, this time at normal speed. Going down on her hands and feet, she ran quickly, the sound of the Vahki's attacks allowing her to dodge them with ease. Rounding a corner, she dashed past multiple startled Matoran, who were staring at the 'strange new Rahi,' and pointing her out to the other Matoran.

Her claws extended, she saw them digging shallow, but long marks in the hall floor with ease. The heated gloves on her hands slightly melting the stone, but unable to do any real damage.

Turning around to look down the hallway, she sniffed the air, sensing that while she couldn't see them, they were still closer then one would think behind her. Looking around for something to throw at them, she sighed in exasperation at the lack of throwing objects in the building. Looking at the ceiling, she closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on locating Amber through sound.

After several moments of it, she dropped her head. Her gaze turning back on the hallway, she saw that the Vahki had finally caught up to her. Grinning wide enough that her feline teeth could be seen from a distance, she ran down the hallway once again. This time, she had started running on just her two feet, once again leaving the Vahki behind.

Amber looked at the small figure in front of her, curious of who it was. Seeing him turn around to face her, her eyes narrowed. She hadn't made a single sound in breaking in.

"I see there's more of your kind." He said in an old, wizened voice, sounding as if he were attempting to not sound evil.

"Yes," Amber started, "And we're more powerful then one would think."

"More powerful? Or just more arrogant?" The small figure questioned her, as if he were eager to upset her. "After all, you two stalked into the Coliseum without any heed for the Vahki."

Glaring at him, Amber spoke again, her voice hissing, "More powerful. And do not mix arrogance with power. Especially since we use our abilities for the safety of others."

"Safety of others?" The Turaga choked out, "Power is meant to be used to crush others. Not save others! Only the strong will survive! The weak are our slaves, working hard for us so that we can live in luxury."

Ambers upper lip curled, showing her teeth, "Trust me. If we viewed power that way, you'd have been dead long ago. Very few can stand up to us and survive. Especially an army of us."

The Turaga glanced at her curiously, "There's enough to form an army of your kind?" He asked, sounding as if a plan were forming.

Amber looked at his seemingly frail form. Despite the weakness of it, he was far more powerful then one would think. One of the Toa had told her that they have only their mask powers left as a Turaga, and even though this was her first meeting a Turaga, he seemed far more powerful then one would think. Curling her claws, she looked at him warily.

He turned around, staring at multiple small screens that showed every hallway in the Coliseum. Many screens showed Alena going past many of them, with Vahki close behind. She was still distracting them. Occasionally finding something to throw at them, puncturing a Vahki's staff and head, making it fall to the ground.

Amber smirked. The feline had begged her to use the gloves, and at the moment, they were off. Despite the grainy screen, it could easily be seen that the gloves were at their normal, non-active power. Not heated up or cooled down.

"Your species power is amazing. Intriguing. I would like to study your species… And then absorb them into my system." The Turaga said, turning back to Amber, red eyes a menacing color.

Reaching up, he pulled off the mask, to reveal a black mask, pulsing a sickly green color, with corrosion seen all around the mask. The removal of this mask released a tremendous amount of power. Looking over to the screen, she saw that even Alena had paused in her irritating the Vahki, curiously looking at the ceiling, wondering where the power came from.

Looking at the Turaga, she saw small bolts of black energy whirling around his hand, forming a miniature dark hole. Growling, Amber studied the room quickly, determining her best escape points. She didn't worry about Alena. Her instincts, sense of smell, and hearing would tell her something was wrong.

Amber had instructed her to immediately evacuate the building if the dull sense of power radiating around the city suddenly increased for a moment, or Amber had given her some sort of sign. She still hoped the feline wouldn't stay behind, regardless of the energy.

Turning her attention back towards the being, she flexed her claws, the sharp tips grazing her hands slightly, and yet causing minor bleeding. Tensing her whole body, she prepared for the eventual blow the 'Turaga' would soon send her. Seeing the shadows attack, she rolled to the left, sensing the energy follow her movements.

* * *

Anyways! This chapter ain't my favorite, just cause the arguement between Amber and Dume stumped me on what two _very _intelligent beings would say. - That and Alena coulda had a better battle scene. ^^' I can NEVER get the battlescenes my head pictures on virtual paper! D= It sucks, but I'm hoping it helps to show these characters abilities more clearly. ^^ Alena was playing with the first batch of Vahki, right up until they beat her. Let's just say she kinda has a grudge on them... ^^ Thus why her intense fighting with these guys. =P That and Vahki just aren't my favorite character. ^^' To cold and ruthless. D: Course, if they were living and had LIVE brains... Not mechanical ones... The situation might change...

Anyways... Peanut, my cat, has an announcement! *Holds up tortoise colored cat*

Peanut: *In squeaky, scared voice reading from paper written by me* I have permission from Alena to pee in the bedrooms of any person who reads this story and doesn't review.

Me: She's my whizzing kittie. ^_^ She'll pee right next to your head, and you won't smell a THING until you almost touch it!

Peanut: Can I go now, Master?

Me: Nope. You stay here and pee in the beds of anyone who doesn't reply but DOES read. ^_^

Peanut: Yes Master. -


	12. Unity Battles

Here's the next chapter! ^_^ Yes, yes. Be shocked! I actually got this out out in... 23 days! (Yes, I actually counted that.) Is that a record? In me getting out a story that I typed up out. I think so. o.o I've become a lot more active in writing though, so thats possible. =D However, this chapter, to my dismay, is barely 4 pages long! D: Not sure about you guys, but I'm not happy about it. This leaves me with 2 pages to go before whacking page 70. -

Hopefully, it's good, since it feels like I rushed it out. - But then again, I did go through a new type of Writers Block.

Alena Paprika Hyper: Lacked motivation, and despite all the ideas I had, I had no idea what to do to continue it.  
Alena Paprika Hyper: So yeah, it was a sucky writers block.

Pretty much sums it up. =P And yes, that really IS me. But I ain't tellin' which of the many IMing systems I have it is! =P

* * *

Chapter 12

Unity looked at the Vahki hive curiously, sitting on a loose cord hanging from an abandoned building, examining the way the inhabitants and visitors acted while there. Ignoring the way the cord pressed into her at an irritating angle, she leaned forward, hands tightening around the rope, and balancing herself to avoid falling off, in order to study the structure even more with skilled eyes. The Vahki were leaving to and from the area, whereas barely any Matoran had been seen entering in the past hour.

Grinning, she bared her teeth in the feline way that Alena and Amber did most of the time. Standing up from her well-balanced seating on the cord, she balanced, once again, precariously on it. Looking at the ground, and estimating that it was close to being fifty feet away, she leaped from her position, catching her footing with ease when she hit the ground. Despite the height, it was an easy jump for a dog-Enmalian to do.

Glancing left and right, she ensured herself that no Matoran were close to the vicinity. Feeling a grin coming on, she grabbed one of the staffs she had carved earlier, to prepare herself for attack and destroying things, and then fixed it after a quick fight. Amber and Alena had decided to do a last minute training session, having Unity join in, to dig up the fighting skills Unity had learned from Amber. Alena had been taken out soon, while Unity lasted longer then her, due to her own strengthening schedule her teacher had given her.

Working with creating things, especially large ones, required more then just a little bit of strength. Depending on the weight, it could occasionally require several builders from her home to join in lifting it. Staring straight ahead, she concentrated on the hordes of Vahki entering and leaving the premises.

On her feet, she walked calmly over to the hive, skipping into it in a happy manner, as if she were oblivious to the world, unable to see several dozen Vahki staffs pointed at her, all buzzing and slightly lit with energy. Looking up, she blinked, as if the staffs startled her.

Staring at them with a glint coming into her eye, she spoke, "Vahki… I got business in there, so if you'd be kind enough to let me in and destroy that hive…"

Unable to talk any more, Unity saw the Vahki tensed at the word 'destroy' and 'hive,' sending their attacks at her the instant they registered danger. The shots hit only themselves, with several stray bolts hitting the ground where Unity had stood. Surprised, they would have undoubtedly blinked in surprise had they had eyelids. Their surprise left them, as they heard skewering.

Unity grinned, her staff having punctured the mechanical parts of them, damaging the objects that ran them. The three Vahki she had stuffed onto her staff fell off it, and onto the floor uselessly, each with a hole in the exact same spot as the first one to be skewered. Pointing the staff towards them, she spotted the Vahki tense, indicating they were about to attack again, as vengeance for fallen comrades.

"What surprises me most," Unity started, flipping over them, and skewering several more Vahki, "Is the way you guys can react to your surroundings. It's very interesting. Not many mechanical creatures can do that, really. Of course, usually they were designed by mankind."

She skewered four this time, sparks from the first one to hit the skewer dangerously close to the fur of her hands. Pulling the staff out, she continued her ramble, knowing they were ignoring her, "But your reactions… It's almost as if you'd have feelings. I could insult you, and you would know it and react in anger. You feel a sense of duty to protect others."

Skewering several more, she kept her talking, as if she were bored, "Of course. You also have a cold heart towards anyone, and anything. I'm pretty sure everything about your 'emotions' have been programmed into you. It's highly unlikely for a robot to develop feelings."

Lifting her pole, she threw it through the crowd of Vahki, its lightly built shape and sharp tip passing through their armor with ease. Close to a dozen fell to the floor, with the catch of the pole having indicated it had finally gotten stuck in one of the Vahki. Racing to reach the pole, she sliced her claws into the heads of close Vahki, effectively wiping them out in a blow.

Taking her claws from the last Vahki heads in her path, she retrieved her faithful stick. "Shame this thing can't come to me when I say 'Come!' though." She joked with the few Vahki that remained. Wielding her stick, she thrust it into the core of each Vahki remaining, all of them falling to the ground uselessly.

Looking around her, she saw a much larger horde of Vahki coming. Picking up the spear, taller then herself, she thrust it in front of her and ran forwards, digging it into the ground seconds before the first Vahki, and successfully catapulted through herself through the air and past the miniature horde. Spinning once as she went far over them, she landed painfully on her hands and feet, lacking the agility and absorption that felines have. Getting up quickly, she started running towards the Vahki's base, or Hive, as Matoran had called it.

Running faster then the Vahki could run, Unity ran into the massive building, its domed shape looming above her, exuding a menacing presence. Grinning, she paused, looking behind her to see how far behind the Vahki were.

"Several hundred meters." Unity said aloud, eyes shining with excitement at using battle skills Amber had taught her. Dashing inside the building, Unity looked at all the startled Vahki. Seeing each of them recover in an instant, Unity held her only weapon at the ready.

Throwing it through several more Vahki, she heard a silent crunch as it hit solid ground, after going through multiple Vahki's heads to get there. Seeing their bodies fall to the floor, sparks coming out of the backs of their heads, Unity picked up the body of one, avoiding the damaged part of it, swinging it at several other Vahki close-by her.

Seeing the sharper points of the broken Vahki's body pierce some of the other Vahki, Unity noticed the rest of the Vahki that weren't damaged or recharging were collecting themselves around her, disks forming in their mechanical jaws as they prepared to attack her. Dashing through the line of destroyed, sparking Vahki she had thrown her spear at, she grabbed the pole, pulling a good two feet of it out of the wall with ease.

Waving it at the Vahki, she quickly examined the building, searching for the control panels that would shut it down. Seeing none that weren't easily repaired, Unity jumped to one of the small cells in the wall, containing a Vahki. She examined the wires attached to its backside, and its eyes, checking to see if it was on. Seeing the lack of glowing eyes, normally staring with cold emotion at everything they saw, Unity grabbed its head, twisting it off with ease.

Throwing it at the horde that was closing in on her, she ripped the wires on its back off, throwing the rest of the body out to give her more space to work with. Ripping panels out, Unity saw the multiple wires running around the cell. Putting one of her claws into the holes, she let it slice through the wires, her limb barely feeling their resistance as her claw cut them. Seeing sparks erupt from them, she felt them land on her fur, several smaller spark from each one singeing her fur, and occasionally leaking through it to burn the skin hidden underneath.

Drawing her hand out, she leaped out of the cell, using her claws, unharmed by the electricity, to rip through the bodies of Vahki as they approached her. Dodging the disks that were sent towards her, Unity knocked one out of her way when she went from the path of one disk, to the next.

Pausing in her attacking, Unity felt an odd tingling in her body, then bitter cold. Looking at the hand that had hit the disk, she was surprised to see a block of ice covering it, spreading out quickly. Disturbed at the block of ice, Unity stared at it for several seconds, despite the horde of Vahki surrounding her, before recovering and smashing another Vahki out of her way, before feeling a second disk hit her.

Feeling her body instantly grow weaker, Unity growled in frustration, her sensitive hearing deciphering the fast talk of the Vahki.

"_I've hit her." _The Vahki, whose disk apparently hit her, told the rest in a monotone voice, as if it cared about nothing. As if it were reporting her fall.

The rest of the Vahki, close to a hundred, drowned the unexcited Vahki's tone out, each one saying, "_Surrender or die, intruder."_

Unity glared at the mechanical beings, determined not to be taken out so easily by Vahki. Reigning in her last bit of strength, she lifted her pole, stabbing Vahki through the head and neck. Feeling her mind fill with the determination of a cornered animal, all the while feeling her vast amount of energy slowly ebb away.

Throwing the staff once again through a group of Vahki, letting it go through their bodies, Unity went to attacking with her claws. Clawing at the face of several Vahki surrounding her, she felt the last of her strength ebb away, while the block of ice on her arm had covered up to her elbow with its cold, frozen water.

Falling to her knees, Unity glared at the rest of the Vahki, before succumbing to the disks powers as it continued to sap her strength, despite her brief touch to it. Closing her eyes, to complete the blackness that her weakened body had been forming in her eyesight, she blocked out the glowing eyes, and the outlines of the Vahki's shapes.

* * *

Anyways! 'Nother cliffie for you guys. :3 I am to cruel, no? And, in MY opinion, the situation seems to be close to the same thing as with Alena(Not me, the character! =P). But this is mostly due to the type of disk used, and the way Unity was fighting a horde of Vahki, although much larger then Alena's own horde. I dunno how many Vahki Unity destroyed yet, so hopefully when I write the next chapter, one of the characters will reveal to me how many she destroyed. ^^ Oh, I so love destruction... (Has rambled randomly again!)


	13. Escape, Desperation, and Plans

Nother 'to short' chapter. - And who here thinks I'm getting better with updating faster? =D *Raises hand* Me!

...I just know I jinxed myself. - *Slams head against wall*

* * *

Chapter 13

Brown and orange eyes followed the dark tendrils attacking. Dodging them with ease, Amber stomped her foot into the floor as hard as possible, sending dirt and rubble down the newly made hole. Cracks spread out from it, slowly widening as the force of her foot slamming into the ground shook the floor slightly. Pulling her clawed foot out, she felt the ground surrounding it shift and fall as it was readjusted.

Glaring at the Turaga-like being, she spoke. "What are you?"

Seeing the Turaga form once again, only now covered in a black, slimy film, dark tentacles crawling out from his small form. Hearing him speak once again made her flinch, not at the volume, but the malicious tone he used. "A small, frail Turaga." He spoke in the same voice, sarcastically, "Who's true name will, for now, be Makuta."

Hissing at Makuta, Amber ducked when Makuta sent another tendril at her. Temporarily pausing near one of the pillars holding up the room, she thrust a fist at it, breaking it up. Gripping one of the larger, more sharp pieces of rubble, she made to throw it at Makuta, before his voice stopped her.

"I have one of your other other-worldly friends." Eyes widening in surprise, Amber glared at him.

"Liar!" Then thrust the piece of rubble at him, hearing the hard ring of stone against metal. The pieces of the rubble fell to the floor, half of it resembling dust, while the creature remained standing. She glared at him, teeth bared to show her anger, unsure of whether he were bluffing or not.

Seeing him shift, changing shapes once again into the Turaga, Amber stepped forward, growling. "I never lie." He said, laughing menacingly.

"Then why are you lying to a whole city?" Amber demanded.

"It is not lying." Makuta started, "It is not a lie until they find out the truth."

"Yeah. Right." Amber snorted, not bothering to continue her argument. "And how would you know that there are more of us?" She questioned, snarling.

"Simple." Makuta replied, glowing red eyes showing far more eagerness then they should have. "I have already met one of your other species, who, unfortunately, escaped my grasp due to my unwillingness to unveil my cover to recapture her. However, I also have proof that there is a third one.

"She had been captured while attempting to destroy one of the Vahki hives, and one of the Vahki, quite literally, got a lucky shot at her. She succeed in destroying that one, and many others, while the disk of weakness worked itself into her system. It was quite impressive. How I would love to command that sort of power." Once he had finished, Makuta had appeared to grow even more eager. Amber saw an image of Unity's capture on one of the screens behind Makuta, cutting itself off as soon as the disk hit her. Feeling a sense of urgency, she glanced, once again, around the room, and dove for the nearest window faster then the being could follow.

Crashing through the window, she felt the wind rushing around her, disturbing every part of her body. Feeling her fur move rapidly at the air continuously flowing through it, along with disrupting her ears, and half blinding her with it's slowly increasing power. Angling her upper body towards the ground, approaching it faster and faster all the while, she extended her arms, letting her body flow into the natural shape of a feline falling.

She felt the force of the wind attempting to slam her arms back towards the side of her body, and beyond that angle. Forcing her arms to remain extended, she put all her faith and trust into her natural instincts to save her. Keeping her body loose, she counted the number of seconds it would be before she finally hit the ground.

On the three hundredth second, she felt her arms connect with the ground full-force. Letting the force flow through her body, she felt it enter and exit through her legs, as the tough bones in them rattled, her feet hitting the ground at the same time the vibrations hit her legs. Feeling the bone-jarring force continue to rattle her bones, the bulk of the force exiting her body as the bones transferred the vibrations from her back into the ground.

Standing up, she looked around, all the while shaking the shock off herself off like a dog, seeing several groups of Vahki coming over to investigate the noise. Looking around herself, she noticed a small amount cracks beginning to form around her, in a spider web pattern. Ignoring the cracks, Amber raced across the grounds, faster then the eye could see, and through one of the six bridges connecting to the coliseum.

Alena's eyes darted left and right. She had heard Amber thrust her foot into the floor, indicating her to leave. Having done as instructed, she sniffed the air fervently for Amber, curious as to her whereabouts. Her ears also whirled around on her head, in an attempt to hear her.

"That half feline is to quiet for my taste." She mumbled under her breath. Whirling her ears around one more time to find Amber, she was rewarded with a tap on her shoulder. Whirling around, she almost yelled at the half feline that she was late.

Seeing her put her index finger to her mouth, she saw Amber was making the silence motion. Seeing her indicate in a direction, she followed, both as quietly as they could. Alena growled, to indicate how upset she was at Amber for delaying her leave, and expecting a lengthy explanation as to why she had taken so long.

Seeing Amber tense her body, the hybrid leaped to the top of one of the buildings, with Alena following closely. Amber turned back to her, and spoke, "Makuta says that Unity has been captured."

Alena tensed, nervous of what had happened. "Do you know if he was telling the truth?"

Amber turned to her, quickly, "Behind him, on one of the screens, it showed a disk hitting her. It cut off immediately, but it was as clear as daylight."

Opening her mouth to speak, Alena shut it again. The sounds of Matoran, Vahki, and machinery were all around them. Everything was picture-perfect, as if the city were truly a place of peace and prosperity. Little did they know what was going on behind the scenes at their precious, oh so precious, Coliseum. Feeling Ambers intense gaze on her, Alena turned her eyes to the scenery behind the hybrid, studying what was also a picture-perfect scene.

The scenery itself consisted of various buildings, each built so that it was possible for a human to build them, but very difficult. Even the machinery would be difficult for some of the less advanced human dimensions to replicate. The world consisted of things that would, very possibly, have at least one ideal thing that would attract humans.

A world that would make humans envious.

Opening her mouth, once again, Alena spoke. "Suppose he was lying? For her to be captured, it would take a miracle. Despite lacking your skills in it, remember. She is far stronger then you, what with being trained to lift even the heaviest of objects. Remember how your Teacher took you to a human world? You reported that she showed you everything there was in that world.

"Such as how images could be digitally altered, to make the image lie about what had occurred in it. Suppose Makuta did that?" Her voice, although it was not noticeable by anyone who did not know her, had gained desperation in it. Amber, however, sensed it. Otherwise she would have snapped at her.

"She was captured." Amber said, "The image held no sign of alteration to it. You should know that the eyes that we have can see flaws that a human would miss. I would have known that image was altered."

"Human eyes!" Alena continued, the only hint that she had heard Amber being her next sentence, "These beings eyes are different from a humans. It's possible that they are stronger then a humans." Her tone still held that undetectable desperation in it, once again, noticed by Amber.

She turned away from Alena. "You know the truth. No amount of excuses can change that."

Alena nodded, dropping her eyes to the ground. "Do you have any plans on what to do?"

She saw Amber nod, "Of course. You mentioned earlier that Unity was stronger then me. We wait, then. Help the Toa and wait. We giver her a week to escape, and the only way we act before that time is up, is if Makuta speaks of capturing her."

Looking at the hybrid, Alena spoke, already knowing the answer to her question, "Do you think he will use her as bait to draw us out?"

She saw the brown, orange, and black fur on Amber's coat go up, "Of course. I saw that look of greed in his eyes. More then likely, he will attempt to capture us." Amber then turned back to Alena, "But he will fail. After all, judging by the video depicting Unity's capture, that disk truly was a lucky shot. She was going easy on them."

Her eyes, brown and orange, lit up in excitement. "And he will pay. We will not go easy on either him or the Vahki. The Matoran are innocent. So we will not harm them. They are merely Makuta's pawns, in something that he very well might consider a game."

"In the meantime?" Alenas' eyes glinted in excitement.

"We train." Amber spoke, before pouncing her, to indicate the training had begun.

* * *

Lesse... I know one of the chapters I had put up on here is lacking the ending... *Looks back* Aha! Found it! ^_^ Look back to chapter five. I was rereading the chapter, and found that I had left out one or two paragraphs of it by accident. You'll know this by the comma, so if anyone particularly enjoyed the chappy involving Alena and Nuju as arguing buddies, looky back! Remember! I am Grammar Nazi. (And if anyone thinks I am insulting the Germans, I am not! And even if I do, I can cause I have German blood in me. :P)

Also!

Person with no name! I'd like ta tell ya a lil' something, for incase you ever read this story again. =P I based the characters off of the Legends of Metru-Nui. I never mentioned them as being human. (And if I did, lemme know so that I can correct that.) I already knew what you just said. =P I like for my stories to be as accurate as possible. So yes. I actually researched the species that make up Alena, Unity, and Amber, so that I could base them more closely off of their animal-counterparts.

*Looks at above paragraph* D: I RAMBLED AGAIN! Aw well. Now to go back to staring at candles melting, and to torture *Or at least try too, the evil man gained an immunity to my attempts at irritating him! D:* the person who just IMed me. =P


	14. Mysteries?

*Slinks in unseen* Ehhhh... I told you?

I'll stop - WTK. WHY IS MY TEXT UNDERLINED? DX Anyways. The main reason it took so freaking long to update? Ehhh... Skype addiction? MapleStory/Mabinogi addiction? School? Any of those a good answer? If not, then what about organizing my own segment for a podcast I'm in? (Please let that one work! My segment is dedicated to both writing and the unknown writers! XP)

Anyways. I'm starting up several colleges courses. Yes, yes, while in high school. Nutty, no? Anyways. Just don't expect any fast updates. - Mostly cause for one class I'm officially part of, requires me to be there two days of the week, and I have to leave at 1:30 to get to school, and get back at somewhere around 7. (Ya'll are lucky your even getting an update! D: I got a whole packet due on Friday, and I'm gonna be gone from my house from 10 to 5.) Didn't even start the packet yet... .-.

* * *

Chapter 14

Unity groaned, for once feeling her muscles screaming at her. Rolling onto her stomach, she felt them stiffen, making it far harder for her to move around. Eyes rolled around in their socket, the mind behind them processing everything that had happened to her. Gold eyes, earned from her mixed heritage, replayed earlier scenes in front of them. Finally, she located the mistake she had made in battle. Mistakes she knew Amber had told her of. Grinning, Unity rolled back onto her stomach, despite the protest of her muscles. Her tail wagged once it was freed, the only part of her that wasn't stiff.

Letting her head fall back to the ground, Unity closed her eyes. Allowing her ears to move around much like a felines ears, albeit slightly heavier, she listened to the noises produced by the outside sources. Hearing several winged animals heartbeats and breathing, she opened her mouth, letting a low whine traverse the cavern, barely loud enough for the creatures to hear her.

"_Come to me._"

The rustling stopped, and Unity heard the heartbeats of the creatures increase. She gave them several moments, before hearing their reply.

"_You speak our language?_"

Unity chuckled. The animals where she lived were intelligent beyond comparison, and it was common knowledge that all Enmalians could speak their language. Having never left her home world before, whenever she spoke to a Rahi, as the Matoran called them, it was still ever so slightly surprising they didn't know that she could speak their language. She always prepared her mind for it, but it still came as one.

"_Of course._" She said slowly, and then attempted to move. Her muscles once again groaned in protest, but this time she forced herself to sit on her elbows, propping her body up. "_How else could I ask a favor of you?"_

The creatures looked at her suspiciously, before flying towards her. Caution was thick in their wing beats, as they came to her slowly. Unity's animal instincts could also sense the emotion, so that if the Rahi's movements didn't indicate to her, then the atmosphere of the room did.

"_What kind of a favor would that be?_" The creatures asked her, the Rahi chirped in their language asked. Unity looked them in the eye, before grinning.

"_Tell my friends that I'm okay. And that there's no need to come and get me. I am merely letting myself regain strength." _The creatures turned their heads to the side curiously.

"_Do we get something out of that?_" One of the smarter creatures flitted closer to her.

Unity's fur rose on end slightly. _Of course, _She thought, _Animals, or Rahi, as this place calls them, have high tendencies of wanting something in return. _Her mind returned to the conversation at hand.

"_You won't be eaten by my friends." _She barked back to the birds. Unity understood all animal language, however, she could only speak the main language shared by all Enmalian canine sub-species. Fortunately, all animals understood the many different sounds their language made.

The birds chirped angrily at her. "_Why should we risk being eaten by them when we could remain here? And we could always accept your deal, leave this cave, and never return."_

Snorting, Unity growled at them. "_If you remain here, I will kill you. And if you leave, having pretended to accept the deal, then I _will _hunt you down. It'll be very easy for me. Your scents are already stored in my memory. _

"_Besides. One of them is training medically. She has learned the art of medicine well. She will give you whatever she feels you deserve."_

The birds, at this point, appeared to be close to attacking her. However, a few seemed rather interested in what might be offered to them. Unity's gaze switched to them, in the hope they would accept. "_Think of it. It could be something that can help you, make you stronger, or something that benefits your species. Even I can not tell."_

Then, what appeared to be among the smarter of the few that appeared interested, spoke. "_What if whatever it is she gives us is useless? If she gives us anything at all."_

"_You underestimate her." _Unity said, barely keeping in her calm appearance and snarl, "_She will give you something in return for your services._"

The birds looked at her, before appearing to nod their approval, and took off flying through the small bars of the cave. Unity sighed, somehow crawled towards the wall to lean against it. Closing her eyes, she felt her body pounding with pain and exhaustion. Leaving herself in the position, she felt the rim of sleep surround her vision.

Suddenly, she heard a cackle. Jerking awake, she saw one of the older birds sitting on her lap. It looked at her, black eyes glinting sharply in the darkness. It's feathers vaguely resembled that of a blackbird, but it was far smaller then one. The eyes looked at her, showing both contempt and relief.

"_Your species is well-known…" _It croaked, "_However, there are no legends of your species among the Toa and Matoran. No. Instead, it is a knowledge buried deep in the farthest corners of our minds."_

Unity stared at the old bird, surprised at what it was saying. "_I could have sworn only the animals we represent had a faint awareness of us in all our minds." _Unity said, cautious eyes examining the bird slowly.

The bird suddenly cawed. "_How strange. You are young. Therefore, your eyes are poorly observant. Do you not see the familiarity in us?"_

Examining the bird, Unity took in the feathers and the Rahi's appearance. It's sharp, pointed beak looked at her menacingly, while beady eyes showed more knowledge and greed then most animals. The last part that stood out to her were the feathers. Black feathers gave her the rest of the hint.

"_So you really are a blackbird." _Unity spoke in her canine language in surprise, "_That would explain as to why you recognized me."_

It's eyes glittered, slowly filling with greed. "_Yes. Although we are not native to this world. Our ancestors were brought here forcefully some time ago. To ensure that we had a better chance of survival, they breed our ancestors with some of the other natives to this world. For that, we still resent them, as the memories are passed down."_

Unity looked at the bird cautiously. "_So why live down here? In tunnels? Birds always naturally preferred the air to the caves_."

The blackbird snorted. "_Of course we hate it here. We loathe it with every fiber of our being. But what other choice did we have? To allow the Matoran to hunt us down and put us into stasis? We may have been breed with other Rahi forcefully, but we are still weak, and have not changed. The only reason we live in tunnels is because of that reason. When we recognized your species, we almost rejoiced, and flew through the bars in the hope you will take us out of here. Imagine our disappointment when we recognized you as being inexperienced in the way of opening portals."_

By the end of the rant, the blackbird was panting heavily. Winded from the fast talk he had taken to when in a rage, he glared at Unity, as if both his misery, and the other blackbirds misery, were her fault. Unity felt she could not blame him, as it was her species fault that they were in this place in the first place.

"_What happened to your ancestors?" _She asked softly, _"They should still be alive, considering the fact that they were brought through portals. Anything that goes through the portals are able to live until killed. Not to mention their children also are affected in the same way, since portals effect everything that enters them for life."_

The bird lowered its head. "_Dead. Swallowed by a hungry Muaka several thousand years ago. I was their firstborn. After me, they could only reproduce with other Rahi." _

It looked up into Unity's eyes.

Alena was sprawled out over the ground, having had Amber beat her into the ground again. She looked up out of the ground painfully, having scented something that she was familiar with, but had not been expecting. Ambers head was turned to the direction the scent was coming from also. Alenas' sharp eyes saw tiny specks of black in the sky, far away.

The specks of black slowly turned into dots, and then outlined the shape of birds. Blackbirds, or something similar. There were mild changes in their appearance, but nothing drastic. Alena picked herself off the ground, looking at the flock curiously.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Amber, who was curling her fingers around her fist, careful of the sharp claws on each fingertip. She also noticed, faintly, that her ears were folded back, as if she weren't sure whether the approaching objects were danger or friend yet.

Turning her eyes back to the specks, she continued to study them, their shape revealed more and more as they approached.

"Staring at the sky like two old Husi wondering whether its going to rain or not?" Said a rough, joking voice. Alena turned her head towards the Toa of Stone.

"We're not that old." Alena told him cheekily, "Yet."

"Yet?" The eye ridge for his mask moved up, as if it were an eyebrow.

Her ears twitched, suddenly hearing the sound of blackbirds. Turning her head suddenly, she nudged Onewa in the stomach, pointing the black specs out to him.

"You see them?"

"See what?" He demanded, sounding slightly out of breath.

"The black specks."

"_What _black specks?"

"The ones that sound like a bird!"

"It's obvious. You two are going nuts." Onewa snarled, his good mood ruined.

"It's obvious Alena." Amber intervened. "He can neither see, nor hear them. Yet, at least. Remember."

Alena went quiet at Ambers rebuke, turning her head to look towards the spots, closer then when she had looked away. She heard Amber jump from her spot, and land onto one of the pillars. Ignoring Ambers movement, she jumped up, nimbly landing on Onewas shoulders.

Feeling the Toa buckle under her weight slightly, she adjusted her position so that her feet were on both his shoulders, ensuring that her claws were nowhere near his armor.

"See the dots now?" Alena asked Onewa, "They should be specks for you now, since I can see them clearly."

She heard him grumble, and snickered at the fact that he was wrong.

Unbeknownst to either of the Enmalians, there were two small ears poking out of the water, oily and clumping. Underneath the protodermis, was revealed the owner of the ears.

A sharply pointed tail paddled furiously against the protodermis, while webbed fingers paddled gently against the protodermis, in contrast to the tail. Beady, black eyes were pointed towards the land, while the whiskers along its face twitched against the current of the protodermis.

Its jaw opened to reveal teeth like that of a humans, pointed to a certain degree at the front, degrading to molars in the back. The rest of it had a human appearance. The brown fur lining its body appeared to be black underneath the water.

And faintly, one could see a smile had formed behind its open jaws.

* * *

Mysterious? I hope so. Can anyone guess what I was hinting to at the bottom? The next update might be a tad bit delayed, since I'm still planning the next character out. I have most of it down, fortunately. I just need to get a tad bit more info on that cursed otte- Whoops. Almost spilled the beans. XP

Anyways. Must I ask you people to R&R? It seems I must. .-. And I don't like begging. D: (Also, I started a new story. if you enjoy the Inheritance Cycle and dragons, hopefully you'll love this one.)


	15. New And Irritating Allie

OMK! I AM SO FREAKING SORRY ABOUT THE UBER LONG UPDATE. DX T.T Uber long time period consisting of homework, Skype, and Minecraft. (Along with my cat dying, but whatever. .-. )

Barely four page chapter, but I really hope that this'll make up for the uber long wait. D:

* * *

**Chapter 15: **

Ambers ears twitched, the rush of waves against the stones of the Ga-Metru Temple that Alena, the flock of crow hybrids, and she resided in. It was a fairly small flock, consisting of just under ten of them. Brown and orange eyes closed, envisioning when the birds had landed in front of them, cawing their heads off.

They cawed to the point where Alena had threatened them, in the animal language, for them to shut up. Amber almost snickered, having also sensed the animalistic part in Alena come up ever so slightly, urging her to kill the birds just for fun.

She also knew that Alena's sane mind had more control over her body then her animalistic mind did. All Enmalians did. It was how they did not degenerate into the seemingly mindless Rasina, fallen Enmalians that, for various reasons, lost their minds to their animalistic side.

A slight shudder went through her body, unable to imagine her mind completely degenerated into a seemingly mindless creature. Rasina seemed mindless, and yet were incredibly intelligent, with their ability to think and argue with the same mindset as before they had fallen. The only way one could tell a Rasina apart from an Enmalian were the bloodshot eyes they gained, that turned pure red, and the buckets of saliva they drooled on a daily basis. Especially if they were young. The older one became, the less they drooled, but it was always there.

Even then, those traits could be easily hid. Amber faintly remembered several periods in the Enmalian history for where an Enmalian would go missing for years, suddenly reappear with what seemed a highly legitimate excuse, reunite with his or her spouse, and then the pair would mysteriously disappear overnight.

Later on, the other missing spouse would be spotted, and recognized as a Rasina.

"Aammberr." Said the sudden, feline voice of Alena. "Hellllo? You there?"

Amber started, having lost track of time. Her mind always got lost when thinking of the Rasina. Instant reflex caused her to attack and pin Alena to the ground, in a position painful for even Enmalians. Her hand had gone for Alena's throat, and she had pinned Alena to the ground in that position, her claws barely grazing Alenas' skin.

Alena grinned mischievously. "You wanna play?" She asked, teasing the Enmalian who had jumped her. In a fit of playfulness, she kicked Amber off, and rolled away, grabbing the spear Unity had made her. The dog-Enmalian would have made what humans call guns, what with their simple design, but had yet to find materials that were useful in making it, such as gunpowder.

Amber saw Alena pause for a minute, prepared for battle, then examine the spear, taking in the unique patterns Unity had carved in. Amber studied the way Alena acted, as the hybrid stared listlessly at the spear. "She's safe." Amber spoke in their native feline language. Alena looked at Amber, the look of listlessness gone.

She grinned widely. "I know. She's resilient. If she wanted to escape, she could have. Probably making friends with the birds."

Alena jumped away, having lost the look she had donned. The feline seemed much better, and Amber couldn't help but slightly envy her. If something bothered her, she either forgot about it or finished it as quickly as possible. Shaking her head, she turned quickly, bouncing away to check on the Matoran Alena had brought with her. He got along well with the others, but, like the other Onu-Matoran, seemed to show quite a bit of fascination with Amber and the others.

Snorting, her footsteps carried her outside where she paused in shock. Standing in front of her was another, more foreign Enmalian. Its whiskers, far longer and thicker then hers, twitched as it chatted with the Matoran, still-damp fur not releasing a scent yet. It's stocky body was in a manner that made it seem friendly.

The Matoran responded either nicely, or for the other, more difficult ones, held nothing but contempt towards it. Ambers claws curled as she crouched into her predator stance. The otter was older then her by several years, but not by much. Her hind legs tightened in an instant, loosening as she sprang towards the otter and pounced it successfully.

In an instant, the pair were clawing and biting, both attempting to kill the other. Eventually, the struggle for power ended as the otter pinned Amber to the ground, a fierce growl erupting from both of their throats. She hissed and spat, trying to claw the intruders eyes out.

"Relax you incessant idiot." The otter spoke. "Do I _seem _like a Rasina to you?"

Amber relaxed, suddenly noting the lack of red eyes. As he lifted himself off of her, she sat up, noting the long, deep scratches, all oozing blood. She flinched slightly at the pain, irritated at both her mistake and defeat. "So who are you?"

He eyes her irritably, also sporting scratches, albeit deeper due to Ambers longer claw reach. "Kedar."

He brought his arm up to his mouth, proceeding to lick at the blood and wounds. Amber watched as the flow of blood stopped and the fur around the wounds become a lighter brown, lacking the original brown-red glow.

Ambers eyes glared at the otter, her claws flexing, indicating she wanted to kill him. "Can you be trusted?"

He paused, before looking at her. "It depends on exactly what your definition of trust is. And how much trust you put in others."

He continued to lick his wounds, while Amber stood there, feeling the thick substance exit her body. "Why are you here?"

She saw him pause and think his words over some. "For research."

"You aren't Rasina?"

"Only the weak ones fall prey to them."

"Why were you hiding from us?"

"Curiosity brought me to study how ones as young as you would interact with these people. Of course, I've never really interacted with them. The Order? Obviously. Anyone else? No."

"Then why reveal yourself now!" Amber exclaimed, anger and frustration seeping into her mind and body. It was beginning to show, and Kedar knew it.

"Your on the verge of disobeying the Rules. Didn't your parents and instructors teach you it?"

Amber swiftly grabbed the head of the otter, faster then any human eye could see, and smashed her head forward with a force that would have shattered any other type of bone. However, both of their skulls remained in one piece, and all that was left was what a human would call a minor headache.

She ignored the pain, while the otter was holding his head, having not expected the sudden attack. "Don't tell me something I know." She growled fiercely, in a tone only Kedar could hear.

"Ah, so you know that you're on the verge of breaking the law?" Kedar spoke softly to her, once again, low enough that only she could hear it.

As he circled her, her different colored eyes followed him until he left her eyesight, stalking her in a predatory manner. "Temporary truce?" He asked, "You can be suspicious of me later."

Amber studied him once more, before giving him her answer. "No." In that instant, she turned and walked away.

She was aware of his eyes on her back as she walked, and had to calm herself down to the point of not killing him. Or at least attempting too. "A wise choice." She heard him speak, "Why keep a temporary truce when it's obvious there will be strains in it? No, we might as well just keep the tension we have, as it'll be nowhere near as bad as the temporary truce."

Once again, these words were barely spoken, so that only she could hear them.

* * *

But yeah. The story continues to develop! And Walnut, there's your character. Now to kill 'im off! =D (You know I'm kidding, right? :P ) Now to continue to study/Skype/play Minecraft/Get wireless Internet so I can host server~


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